Raped
by BLUEanimeGIRL025
Summary: A SasuHina story. No Sasuke does not rape Hinata, and Hinata does not rape Sasuke. yeesh! it's more like, Hinata learns how to be a stronger person through a bad experience, blahblah... just read it plez? It's good, I promise.
1. Raped

_**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto, forreal._

* * *

Hinata Hyuga was running faster than she ever had before. She seemed to be bleeding from every part of her body. Blood ran down her arms, her legs, her cheeks and her neck, her forehead…. She did not know how many hours had passed since she had been jumped; all she knew was that she had to get away. Far away.

What felt like an eternity before, she had decided to take a walk at sunset, which she realized now must have been the biggest mistake of her life. She had wanted to be alone, so she had taken the least traveled path in Konoha. Surely no one would interrupt her thoughts there.

What had she been thinking about so deeply you ask? Her life, basically. She felt… worthless. She couldn't fight for her clan, a clan that practically hated her, and she couldn't tell Naruto how she felt about him, because she was just too shy. She tried so _hard_ at everything she did, but she knew that she was only disappointing her friends. She knew because of the way they looked at her so pityingly whenever she asked for help. She knew because of the defeat in their eyes when they actually did try to help, and she failed. It felt like all she could do was _cry_, and she was so sick of crying.

So, she had gone for a walk. At sunset. To watch the light fade away and the stars come into the sky one by one. She had walked further from home than she had realized, and just as she had started her way back, two men had jumped her. They ganged up on her, and it didn't matter how loud she screamed, because there was no one near enough to hear it. She had struggled as hard as she could, but her defenses were already weak enough, then with hopelessness so deeply etched into her soul, she felt like all the fight had drained out of her.

The men had raped her.

She was scared.

Hinata was breathing hard, running fast on bare feet. Most of her clothes had been ripped off of her; what was left was barely enough to cover everything that needed to be covered. She ran and ran, not aware that there were still warm tears streaming down her face. She realized that her mind wasn't working right at the moment. All she could think about was running, getting away.

She had finally managed to escape those two men. She had squirmed away from them, ran, and hadn't looked back since. Now she was cold and bloody. They had hit her, beaten her, kicked her… among too many other things. Her mind shied away from the memories of it. Never once had she thought that such a thing could happen to her. But it had. And now not only was she alone, but she was lost in the woods, beaten, violated, and totally exhausted.

Hinata kept tripping over things like roots and rocks, but somehow she managed to keep her balance, despite how tired she was, and how broken she felt. Finally, she tripped one last time, and fell face down in the dirt, sobbing harder than she could ever remember doing before. She wasn't sure how long she lay there, but suddenly she heard some rustling in the woods around her. Her sobbing ceased in an instant. She held her breath.

Were those two men back to rape her again? Had they managed to follow her? Her mind was spinning out of control but she fought to keep it all inside. Then, for a moment, the noises stopped. Slowly, she sat up, just praying that the men were gone.

Someone had jumped from a tree, and abruptly landed directly in front of her. Hinata screamed and shot off like a bullet into the surrounding trees. She stumbled more than she had before, with adrenaline pumping in her veins and her heart beating so loud that her entire body throbbed in pain. Someone was definitely chasing her now, and it didn't take long for them to catch her. Strong arms wrapped around her, keeping her own arms pinned tightly to her sides. She struggled a bit, but most of her strength had already been stolen away. The person who had a hold of her lifted her so that her feet were dangling an inch or so above the ground. She kicked hard, but the man - she was sure it was a man - was able to take it.

"Let go of me!" she screamed, her voice weak and shaken. "Let go! Let go of me!"

The man was trying to calm her. "Shhh! Stop screaming!"

"LET GO! LET ME GO!"

"Stop!"

She had kicked her last kick. She was so tired. She just couldn't struggle anymore. Hinata's entire body went limp, and she gave in; slumped forward and crying in the man's arms.

"I'm not going to hurt you," he said calmly.

In surprise, Hinata realized that the voice was more of a boy's rather than a man's. "You're-you're not?" she choked. She struggled a bit more, and this time, he let her go. She spun to get a good look at him, and found herself face-to-face with none other than Sasuke Uchiha.

They blinked at each other for a moment, then Sasuke broke the silence. "You're of the Hyuga clan. Hinata?"

She nodded, and her voice shook again when she spoke, but this time from relief. "Yes," she answered.

"What happened to you?" He eyed her up and down, and it was then that Hinata remembered how scantly she was covered.

Cheeks red, she crossed her arms over her chest and swallowed hard. She didn't answer him, but for one single instant, she had the irrational thought that he might try to do things to her like those men had.... If something so totally mind-blowing could happen to her in such a short time, so _easily_, then Hinata thought, _anything _could happen. Could she trust Sasuke? ...it seemed she didn't really have a choice. Still, she tried not to cringe away from him. He was her only hope... maybe if she could stay near him, she would be safe.

"Did you get into a fight?" he demanded, and his voice sounded disbelieving to her ears.

"N-no…" she said weakly, staring down at her dirty feet. He didn't ask anymore questions, so she went on, feeling the need to explain. Her voice was quiet, but she didn't doubt that he could hear her. "T-two men grabbed me, and they… they did something awful…."

Sasuke took in a sharp breath and she noticed him tense. "You were... you were _raped_?"

Hinata let out a small sob. "Yes," she cried, and the tears were flowing again.

Awkwardly, Sasuke put a hesitant hand on her shoulder, as if to offer some small comfort, and without really thinking about what she was doing, Hinata sank against him. Reflecting back on that moment later on, she could remember crying so hard against his chest, not even caring if he thought she was weak or pitied her. He had put his arms around her and patted her reluctantly on the back.

When finally Hinata calmed down enough and her sobs had stopped, he grabbed her, and pulled her away from him. "Come on," he said, pulling her along. "Let's get you back to the village… to Tsunade."

* * *

Tsunade fixed Hinata up, leaving the Hyuga girl covered in bandages and funny smelling medicine. Then, the woman sat her down and the two of them had a very long talk, which was awkward for Hinata, being such a shy girl and all. The sun was rising when Tsunade sent someone to fetch Hiashi, Hinata's father, and the woman offered Hinata a hospital bed to nap on while they waited, but the girl refused. She wanted to be wide awake when her father got there; she wondered if he had even been worried about her at all, seeing as she had been out all night. She could have died, and he wouldn't have known it. Nor would he have cared.

"Why are you even bothering?" she heard her own, tiny voice ask.

"What?" Tsunade said in surprise.

"My father doesn't care about me… when he gets here, he'll only be angry."

Tsunade put a hand on Hinata's arm and said, "I'm sure that's not true."

"You don't know him like I do." And even though she felt she had already cried every tear that it was possible to cry, fresh ones managed to flow down her cheeks.

It was _then_ that Hiashi stepped in.

He did look angry at first. He was quiet for a while, but after taking one glance at him, Hinata simply stared at the floor. "I apologize that my daughter has been trouble for the Hokage," she heard her father say respectfully.

"No trouble at all Hiashi." Tsunade's voice sounded a bit cold.

"Has she gotten into a fight?" Hinata scoffed quietly. Of course, her father would be _glad_ if she had gotten into a fight.

"No," Tsunade replied stiffly.

"Ah. So she was beaten I presume? Such a weak girl." He walked past the Hokage and stood directly in front of Hinata, who only continued to stare at the floor. His voice was harsh and firm when he spoke. "You should learn to defend yourself. What kind of Hyuga are you? Did you even get a single hit on the ones who attacked you?"

Unable to hold back, Hinata slumped forward, holding herself, and crying silently. Her father scoffed. She had tried to warn the Hokage that he would only be angry. He didn't even ask where she had been all night. She knew it; he hadn't been worried a single bit.

"Your daughter was raped tonight, Hiashi." Tsunade's voice was like steel; cold and hard. She said the words with obvious authority, nearly snarling at him.

Hinata looked up in surprise. The girl's tear-filled eyes flickered from the Hokage to her own father. What was even more of a shock to her, was when Hiashi's face drained of blood, and he stared down at her with his mouth half open. Not able to bare the weight of his stare, she looked away again.

"Is this true?" he demanded of the woman. He sounded incredulous.

"I think the one you should be asking, is Hinata," Tsunade said in her best Hokage voice.

Hiashi seemed at a loss for words, and even though she was not looking at him, Hinata could still feel him staring down at her.

* * *

Hiashi had been acting differently towards Hinata ever since that day. He seemed to be struggling with a bit of an internal dispute. While he was still hard on Hinata, she could see something like pity or regret in his eyes, and his voice was never so harsh as usual. Hinata stayed quieter than ever, avoiding other members of the clan as much as she could. Word had spread throughout the Hyugas of what had happened to her that night; most of them were even harder than her father, saying that she should not have let herself get raped, a few others were sympathetic. In any case, they all seemed to want to talk about it, and that was the last thing _she _wanted to do.

Hinata sighed as she stared up at the Uchiha mansion, thinking about how none of her clan would ever expect to find her here. Sasuke had probably already told all of Konoha about what had happened that night, but Hinata was still grateful that he _had_ been there, and now she wanted to thank him.

It was a nice warm day. The sun was shining brightly, flitting in and out of the clouds. There were dark shadows on the ground from the clouds above, and the wind had a nice little breeze blowing, so it wasn't hot at all. Hinata had learned to really appreciate days like these since the incident in the woods; that night, she had really thought that she was going to die. And even if her life was still horrible, she _was_ grateful to _be_ alive. She was glad that what few thoughts she had had before of suicide were now gone forever.

Another sigh when she reached his doorstep - it had been no easy task; Sasuke kept traps and things in his yard which she had somehow managed to avoid. At least now he knew she was here, anyway. She knocked on the door, and waited. It was at least ten minutes before Sasuke answered, but she knew that he was home and didn't mind waiting, so she just stood there. His expression was as stone when he opened the door. Her eyes flickered up to him and she blushed. Since her experience, most of her shyness had faded away, but still, bits and pieces of it crept up on her from time to time.

Sasuke acknowledged her with a slight tilt of his head, and asked her to "please, come in." She stepped into the cool house, glancing up at the high ceiling. The front room was larger than she had expected it to be, which was pretty large considering that this was a mansion and all. She didn't stop to gawk at it though, as she followed him to what must have been the kitchen. He offered her tea, and she refused, but he fixed her a cup anyway. They sat at the table together, in silence.

Hinata thought to herself how strange it was to be sitting in Sasuke Uchiha's mansion, drinking tea with him at his kitchen table. Before, she could never have imagined her doing something like this. She allowed herself a small smile.

"I don't want to stay long," she said quietly. She had planned out everything that she was going to say, and had it all memorized, so she didn't stutter, but it still came out sounding a bit weak. Hinata took a deep breath, and continued. "I w-wanted to thank you." She silently cursed herself for stuttering. She sighed and started over, speaking a bit louder than she normally would have. "I wanted to thank you for helping me that night, and taking me back to the village, and to the Hokage. I'm not sure what would have happened if you hadn't been there."

Instead of saying things such as he had only stumbled upon her by accident, or that it had been no big deal, Sasuke merely accepted her thanks and continued to sip his tea. The silence, Hinata was surprised to find, wasn't awkward between them at all. Actually, it was kind of nice to be in a place with someone who didn't question her or berate her… it was pleasant to just sit in the quiet with one another, in a place where none of her clan would expect her to be.

After their tea cups were both empty, Hinata decided to leave, thanking Sasuke again for letting her into his home and offering her drink. He accepted her thanks again, and she left feeling strangely refreshed. Sasuke stood in the doorway of the mansion and watched her go.

* * *


	2. Question

_**Disclaimer:**__ I don't ownnnnnnnnn Naruto._

* * *

Two days had passed since she had visited Sasuke. After leaving his mansion that day, Hinata had been unable to make herself go back home. Well, she _had_ actually gone back home, but she hadn't been able to go inside. She had frozen in her own front yard, looking up at the house where she had grown up, knowing that nothing good awaited her inside. Every memory she had had within the house seemed to flash through her mind, and with the thought of her father's angry, disappointed stare, Hinata had turned away from that place and ran.

She hadn't stopped running for a good while, and found herself in the wood where her team usually trained. They weren't there.

Suddenly, she missed her friends. Hinata had pretty much been hiding from the world since that horrible day, and so she really hadn't seen anybody she knew besides family - and Sasuke of course. And what would she say to her friends even when she did see them? How could she possibly act like things were the same when her entire world had been ripped apart? She shuddered at the violent memories.

With a little sigh, she sat on a nearby log, closed her eyes, and waited for nothing. It was nice to feel the wind brush against her face. Once again, she felt grateful - grateful to be alive. She filled her lungs with a slow, deep breath. "Hinata?" Slowly, she turned. Kurenai, her sensei, was standing nearby looking at her. Nothing surprised Hinata anymore, and that was a good thing she supposed.

"Yes, sensei?" she asked. "Why aren't the others here today?"

Kurenai hesitated, then stepped forward. "So have you decided to start training with us again today, Hinata?" the woman asked as she crouched on the ground across from her.

"No, sensei," Hinata answered reluctantly. "I just.... didn't feel like going home."

"It's been nearly a week since you've showed up, you know. No one in town had seen you for a while. We were getting worried."

Inside her mind, Hinata scolded herself lightly. She had made her friends worry about her. She should have at least _told _them she wouldn't be showing up for a while. With a little blush, she stood, and bowed deeply. "I am sorry," she said quietly. She was proud of herself for not stuttering, or making up any lame excuses. Kurenai just stared at her - the woman's eyes were sharp, taking in every detail, and searching.

"No, don't apologize Hinata," the woman said gently, and Hinata was surprised at that gentle tone in her voice, as if she were not going to scold her at all for it. "Sit back down." It was quiet, and again, Kurenai hesitated to speak. Then she said, "I spoke to your father today."

Hinata's heart fell heavily to her stomach. "You did?" she asked, and her voice shook.

Kurenai turned her head to the side, as if she weren't sure how to look at her. "I figured that he would inform me, or at least have Neji or someone else of the Hyuga clan, to alert your teammates if something were to happen to you. But since he did not, I figured that perhaps you were just ditching out on practices. But that's not like Hinata, I told myself, and when I approached the subject with your father, he spoke to me privately, and told me what happened."

Everything was quiet again. The wind blew through the trees. Hinata didn't know what to say. "I thought..." she gulped, swallowing back sudden tears. "I thought that you would hear about it before now. Then again, I guess Shino and Kiba wouldn't tell you... even if you asked." Kiba and Shino avoided awkward conversations.

Kurenai looked back at her at that. "But they didn't know about it either. They still don't, I think. ...Should they?"

"Well, I thought... I thought the others would have told them...."

"What others?" Kurenai asked. "We asked nearly everyone in Konoha, and nobody seemed to know where you had disappeared to." Her voice fell quiet. "Naruto was exceptionally worried, in case you were wondering. He's been wondering about you, too."

Hinata supposed that that should have made her feel better... but it didn't. So Naruto was worried about her. She should have been glad, but somehow, she just didn't feel the same for him anymore. Naruto Uzumaki no longer had such an impact on her life, not since....

"I'm sorry," she apologized again.

"Hinata..." the woman said slowly. "I understand that you probably don't want to talk about it, but... you could have told me, you know."

Instead of answering, Hinata simply shook her head. She didn't think she had it in her to say the words aloud.

"Hiashi seems different somehow," Kurenai said, and Hinata was surprised at the woman's change of subject. "When I spoke to him today he seemed concerned, almost. I know you've always thought that he hates you, and maybe he did before, but I think he's truly trying now, Hinata. Even if it's just a little bit... maybe you should give him a chance?"

For the first time in a long time, Hinata felt angry. And she hardly _ever_ felt angry. "What do I have to say to him?" she asked quietly, swallowing bitter tears again. "Even now, he just looks at me. He doesn't ever say anything beyond what _has_ to be said, he doesn't look at me any more than he _has_ to. How am I supposed to give him a chance, when he's never given _me _a chance?"

The wind blew, the leaves rustled. "Hinata," Kurenai said quietly. "I'm sorry."

* * *

But that had been two days ago.

Today, Hinata was alone again. She had gone into town the day after talking to Kurenai, feeling bad for making others worry so much. Many people her own age, and even a few of the teachers, approached her upon seeing her in the street, and many asked questions like where had she been, had she been sick, was she feeling alright... it was nice to see her, everyone had been so worried, and Sakura and some of the others even wanted to spend the day with her, though Hinata had never really been very close to any of them. She denied politely, and made her rounds through the town once more, just in case there were any others she needed to see.

Naruto caught a sight of her this time, and ran up to her excitedly. She blushed a little when she saw him, and he laughed like he always did, asking where she had been. For the most part, she had avoided that question throughout the day, but with him she said, "I just... wasn't feeling well." She was thankful that most of the scrapes and bruises from that horrible incident had healed by now, so she didn't have to explain those off as well - though she still had one broken rib that was causing her a bit of trouble.

"Glad to see you back!" Naruto exclaimed, patting her arm with a grin. She smiled back at him, and the feelings she had had for him since they were little fluttered in her stomach a tiny bit, though it still wasn't the same. "It's nice to see you too, Naruto-kun," she replied, a bit proud of herself for not stuttering around him. "Sorry for making you worry."

For a moment he looked like he was going to say something about how it was no trouble at all - as the others had - but then he blinked at her with those blue eyes of his and said, "Hey, there's something different about you Hinata. You sure you're alright?"

Eventually, she had convinced him that she was fine, though she knew that she must have been acting very differently to the way she had before.... No one was yet used to her not being so shy, and not stuttering. Next, she saw Kiba and Shino, her teammates, and they both also said that it was good to see her again. After saying feebly, once again, that she had been sick, they shared a look that said she needed to work on her lying skills. She simply wasn't used to it. Then, Kiba asked if she was ready to start coming back to training. "Ready as ever!" she reported happily, and he grinned saying, "Alright!"

Hinata waved them off, walking in the opposite direction, and she wasn't paying attention to where she was going, because suddenly she ran smack into somebody. With a grunt, she fell on her bottom in the dirt. "Whoops!" Choji exclaimed. "Sorry about that Hinata!" and he helped her up. She laughed it off. "Again, it's good to see you." He smiled. She had already talked to him earlier.

"Thanks," she told him, and they too went separate ways. With a little sigh and thoughts of being out of the town and away from the crowd, Hinata was just about to turn and leave when someone slipped in next to her. "You should start being a little more aware of the people around you," Sasuke Uchiha said, and though she had claimed that nothing surprised her anymore, she gave a start.

"I've... never been very good at that," she said with a blush. She couldn't believe it. She hadn't even been this shy with Naruto. Then again, Sasuke was one of the few who actually knew what had happened to Hinata.

"If you don't keep your guard up..." Sasuke said slowly, and his voice dropped "you could be grabbed again." Hinata looked around, making sure that no one had heard that last statement. Then she lowered her eyes to the ground. "I know," she said. "I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize to _me_." He gave a little huff, as if he were annoyed.

After a moment, Hinata said, "I'm surprised that you and Neji didn't tell everybody. About what really happened, I mean."

Sasuke shrugged. "It wasn't my place to tell. And it wasn't anybody else's business anyway. But I don't know what to tell you about Neji." Hinata had a sudden thought - she sure hoped that none of the Sasuke-fan girls saw her talking with their star. As... funny as it was, she would probably even be worse off with them than she had been with her attackers the other night. Perhaps she really _should_ start paying more attention to the people around her.

"Well... Neji doesn't talk much," she said, her mind drifting back to the conversation they were having. Then she gave a little laugh. "He talks about as much as you do." As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she regretted saying them - what if she had offended him? She bit her tongue, but Sasuke just glanced at her, and nodded as if it were of no consequence. Hinata cleared her throat. "Thank you," she said, and she touched him lightly on the arm.

Sasuke looked uncomfortable, and a little confused at her touch, but he said, "You've thanked me enough."

"Then why are you standing next to me, Sasuke?"

He gave her a strange look at that. He probably wasn't used to people referring to him in that way. He was more used to girls calling him "Sasuke-kun" than anything. "I just wanted to tell you... you should be more aware."

She nodded. "You said that I have thanked you enough-"

"You have," he interrupted her. "And..." he hesitated, the sighed. "I guess I just wanted to say that... it's good to see that you're doing alright." He avoided looking at her.

Hinata had never really cared much about Sasuke Uchiha. He was just a boy, like any other, but he was one that nearly every girl their age - and even some younger, and a few older - were absolutely infatuated with. But Hinata herself had had more interest in Naruto, and she hadn't really paid much attention to Sasuke. However, since the night that she had been... attacked... she had discovered that there was more to him than good looks and incredible skills. As little as she had been around him, she was able to see that he was kind, and good, though he liked to hide it. He didn't like talking about things, especially his feelings toward anything, and it must have been incredibly hard for him to say those few words to her... _"it's good to see you're doing alright."_

Hinata smiled at him, though he still wasn't looking, and said, "I'm glad to hear you say that. I was worried I had caused you trouble."

"No trouble," he grunted. "But don't expect the same help next time." Now he was looking at her. "If you are ever in a situation like that again, don't expect me to come to your rescue. Someone won't always be there to help you, so you shouldn't depend on others so much. Train hard, and learn to defend yourself."

She realized that they had stopped walking. They were in the middle of the road, and they were standing in people's way. She moved to the side, and he followed. "I will try hard," she said, bowing to him. "Harder than ever. I _won't_ let it happen again." And Hinata realized how true her words rang in her own ears. It was the first time in a long time that she had felt such determination. She spoke quietly. "I'll be sure that next time... I won't have to have somebody lead me by the hand back to Konoha."

When she stood straight again, Sasuke looked at her a moment, and then nodded in approval.

And that had been her second - or did the time at his house count as well? - strange encounter with Sasuke Uchiha. Hinata had been surprised when she learned that he had not spilled her secret to the entire town. Even with what little she knew of him, she had always known that Sasuke was quiet and reserved, but for some reason, to her he seemed like the type who would tell people what had happened. That, in fact, was why she had avoided going into public for so long - how would people react if they knew she had been... raped? (Even now her mind still shuddered to think the word.) She knew that things would be every bit as awkward as it was with her family, and she didn't want that from her friends. She didn't want them to look upon her with anymore pity or disappointment than they already did.

However, the strangest part of her conversation with Sasuke had definitely been when they parted. Sasuke had made her an unexpected offer, and so now Hinata sat on her own, thinking on it.

He had offered to help her learn, to defend herself. He wanted to teach her.

At her surprised expression to the request he had said, " Don't get the wrong idea. You're just so pathetic, it would almost be criminal _not_ to offer you a little help." But the way his eyes wouldn't meet hers told her differently. He really _wanted_ to help her. Though she couldn't see why exactly. Maybe he just didn't want to feel responsible if something _did_ happen to her again - Hinata shuddered again, and prayed briefly that _nothing_ like that would _ever _happen to her again. He had said that he would not be there to help her if there ever was a next time, but would he regret those words if it ever were to happen?

Though Hinata really couldn't understand his reasoning behind this sudden offer, she was really considering taking him up on it. Perhaps she had trained with the same, familiar people for too long. Perhaps she wasn't getting any stronger working with them. And Sasuke was very skilled, after all. He would present more of a challenge, he could teach her more than her two teammates could.

The real question was, even if she wanted to, _could_ she accept his offer? Though most of her shyness had been shaken off, she still wasn't bold enough as to do something like _that_. Could she really seek him out and say that, yes, she _did_ want him of teach her? She could hardly imagine what it would be like, spending hours of her time with Sasuke Uchiha. They had hardly ever been even acquaintances in the past. And if the fan girls were ever to find out that another girl their age was getting private lessons from Sasuke.... Hinata shuddered to think it.

Drawing a long breath, she stood, and began walking. It was time to head to the Uchiha mansion. She had to do this fast, like pulling off a Band-Aid, so it wouldn't embarrass her as much. She told herself not to think about what she was doing, just go, and tell Sasuke that, if he were willing to spare a bit of his time and knowledge, a little extra training would be... nice.

* * *

He was sitting at home, in the kitchen with a cup of sake, eyeing the seat where Hinata had sat two days ago. He didn't really care much for sake, really, but it wasn't much that he was drinking and he had felt that lately he had need of it. What had he been _thinking_, offering to waste time on someone as absolutely helpless as her? It had been a last minute thing, really. He actually hadn't even considered it before. And why should he? It was not his place. That's what the girl had a sensei and teammates for. She shouldn't need his help.

In the back of his mind, though, Sasuke knew exactly what he had been thinking at the time. He had been thinking about that night in the woods. An image had popped up into his head as he had said his goodbyes to Hinata - the look that had been on her face that night. For a moment, he had remembered exactly what she had looked like when he found her scrambling, half tripping, in the woods. Breathing hard and sweating, bleeding all over, with as many cuts and tears on her body as there had been on her clothes. The girl had been such a mess. Her face had been pale, and filled with an expression of such stark terror that it still haunted Sasuke's dreams at night - literally. Since that time in the woods, he had hardly been able to get any decent sleep. He always saw her in his nightmares, the expression on her face, and the crazed half blank stare that had been in her eyes.

Sasuke never wanted to see something like that again.


	3. Resolve

_**Disclaimer: **__I do not own Naruto =)_

_**A/N: **__Actually, this was supposed to be two chapters, but it was so long that I had to cut it in half. I'm almost done with the other now, I promise._

* * *

"I see what you've been doing wrong," Sasuke commented as he circled Hinata idly. The determined look on her face slipped, and she sighed as she lowered her arms from her fighting position. "No wonder everyone's been getting so frustrated with you." She blushed at that. "It's just a slight mistake, though, so don't worry much about it. It took awhile for me to see it myself." He walked up behind her and told her to get back into position. She raised her arms again as if she were about to perform a technique. "Right here," he said, pointing out her mistake. "Your shoulders are lined up correctly, but since your arms are shorter than mine - and of your teammates as well, I'm guessing, or they would have found the problem before in your other techniques - you need to raise them a little higher. And that should make a lot of things easier for you to perform, not just _this_ trick_._"

"Like this, Sasuke?" she asked, raising her arms slightly. She had tried at first to call him Sasuke-sama, Sasuke-san, Sasuke-kun, or even _sensei_, but in the end he had insisted that she call him by nothing more than his first name, and after a while she began to see relief in his eyes whenever she did so. It must be nice for him to be in the company of someone who didn't dote on him constantly.

"No. Now you're aiming too high. Too low or too high and the technique wont work. Here." He touched one of her arms slightly with his fingertips, pressed down gently, then stepped back for a moment. "Better," he said with an approving nod.

They had been doing this for nearly two weeks now, in private, a little ways away from Konoha so as to eliminate the chance of either a fan girl or one of Hinata's family to stumble upon them accidentally. Sasuke was in fact a very good teacher, as Hinata was a little shocked to discover. Really she shouldn't have been surprised. He _was_ the great Uchiha, after all. He was very perceptive, and surprisingly easy to get along with. At least, it was easy enough for Hinata to get along with him. He always pointed out what she was doing wrong bluntly, without any consideration for her feelings, and _that_ was what made him a better sensei than her sensei, friends, and family. Because _he_ didn't care how shy she was, _he_ didn't care if he hurt her feelings when she did something wrong, _he_ didn't treat her like a child. If she screwed up, he would not stop to comfort her. He would drill her on the same thing again, and again, until she got it right. And that was what she liked so much about the steely Uchiha.

Wiping the sweat from her brow with the back of her hand, Hinata lowered her arms back into the position Sasuke had just revised for her, and concentrated. It took a moment for her to build up so much chakra needed to carry out this technique though, especially seeing as how much chakra she had been using up for the past couple weeks already. In a way, things were getting easier, and in another way, Hinata felt spent. Things just kept getting more difficult over time, as she got better. This was the first actually killing move Sasuke had taught her yet.

It was a long moment of silence then, but Sasuke didn't get impatient with her. He simply stood and watched, and waited. If it didn't work again this time, she would just have to try again.

Suddenly she felt the chakra running through her, felt the power flowing through her veins. It was gentle power, like cold electricity on the inside, giving her life rather than shocking her. It was a pleasing feeling most days, but right now Hinata was using up all that she had left. After this try, she should be done for the day. She was determined though. She was ready for anything.

Hinata knew what she had to do now that she had the power to do it. A single drop of sweat trickled slowly down the side of her face. Then she felt an invisible force streak away from her, and a thin, barely noticeable vertical line appeared on the bark of the tree that was five feet in front of her, running up and down it's entire length. After a moment, the tree split in half completely with a _crack_, and Hinata breathed a sigh of relief. That was what she had been waiting for. Sasuke had demonstrated it for her earlier that day, and to her left was yet another split tree, from where he had performed the technique himself.

Sasuke applauded her quietly. It was her first successful attempt. Before, even after his demonstration, the best she had been able to manage was a slight crooked crack in the bark.

Of course, Hinata shuddered to think what this particular technique would do to an actual human being, but whenever she thought of those men and what they had done to her, she steeled her heart. She had to be cold with people like that, and so she had insisted on learning this technique.

"Impressive," Sasuke noted. "Most ninja our age aren't able to hold enough chakra to perform that technique. You've done surprisingly well so far." Truthfully she had been surprised when the boy agreed so quickly to teach this trick to her. Others probably would have said that it was too violent and difficult for her, that she wouldn't be strong enough to learn something like it, and did not need to know it anyway. But, as mentioned before, Sasuke didn't really care what he taught her, so long as she did it properly and learned how to defend herself. She had the feeling that Sasuke was a bit sympathetic toward her, though he hardly showed emotion at all, and that he really _wanted_ her to learn these things. At times he seemed nearly determined as she was. Or maybe he was just a perfectionist. Either way, she was grateful to him.

"Thank you, Sasuke," she replied in relief, lowering her arms and sighing heavily. She was really starting to tire easily lately. She had started off strong in training, with a full healthy amount of chakra, but ignorant as well, and had blundered through most of whatever he had tried to teach her. He had actually become somewhat tired of her throughout the first week, but he had hidden it well while she blushed in shame, and went on with teaching her anyway. Every failure seemed to make him more determined to cram any knowledge he could inside her head, and at the beginning of the second week, she was finally starting to catch on to things. Gradually, and under Sasuke's watchful eye during their free time, Hinata became a better fighter. Now, if any men like the ones before ever tried to approach her, she would at least be somewhat ready for them. And Hinata had vowed to herself that if _any_ man like that approached her again, she _would_ see him dead. She had said as much as Sasuke, and then had been embarrassed at admitting so much.

"You shouldn't be embarrassed by that," he had snapped after she had blushed and stammered out an apology. Sometimes it was hard not to slip back into her old habits. "That's your problem, Hinata Hyuga. You become embarrassed and lose your determination. You can learn as much as you want from me or anyone else, but if you're not determined it won't help you a bit. Now, get back in position, we'll try that last technique again." That is what Sasuke Uchiha had told her then, and she was grateful for his words. Nobody had ever said anything like that to her before, and now that she saw it his way, Hinata was more bent on learning than ever. That's why she didn't mind when she went home exhausted at the end of every day. That's why she never complained or gave up whenever she felt down. That's why she fought to hide her blushes, and speak her mind, and worked until she was drained of every last bit of chakra within her.

Even her family was finally starting to see a change in her. She smiled at the memory of telling them all very bluntly to shut up one day when they had started shaking their heads and speaking behind their hands to each other after she had passed.

"What shall we do next?" she asked Sasuke now, preparing her exhausted body to learn something new.

Rather than answering however, Sasuke studied her for a moment. Then he shrugged and said, "Nothing."

She stared at him, surprised. "What? Why not?"

He grimaced. "You're exhausted Hinata. We've been out here everyday as much as possible for the past week, and not much less than that the week before. You're starting to wear down. You need to relax, or you'll burn all your chakra out."

"But I _want_ to keep training," she protested after a moment. "It's okay if I feel a little tired isn't it? It's a small price to pay. I'm just now starting to get _good_ at this. I've missed out on a lot in the past. You're a really good teacher, and I just want to keep learning." The words came out of her mouth so fast that they stumbled over one another a couple times. Sasuke stood there, taking it in silence. After a moment of thought, Hinata realized she was being foolish, and probably embarrassing herself. "I'm sorry," she said, but some of his pride was starting to rub off on her it seemed, because she had enough to decency to keep from blushing, and kept her voice firm. "You probably want a break don't you?" She shook her head at herself. "I forgot... I mean, I didn't think about how much this was cutting into your time too. I'm sorry, Sasuke. I will go home and rest for a while." She bowed deeply to him, and didn't raise up until he spoke.

"It's alright," he said passively. "It's not like I have much else to do these days. The Hokage's been a little lax when it comes to missions lately, and to tell you the truth I _like_ these little practice sessions. They keep me from being lazy and give me something to think about."

"So why do you want to stop now?" she inquired.

"Because you really do need rest. This has taken a lot out of you, probably more than you realize. The technique you learned today used up more of your chakra than I'm surprised you have left after everything we've been doing for the past couple of weeks. In other words, it'll kill you if you keep going at this rate."

"So... when do you want to start again?" she asked hesitantly. She didn't want to push it. And the last thing she wanted was to make him angry or get in his way.

To her surprise, he smirked a crooked smile. "You're really that eager? I'm warning you, after you get rested up, the things I'll teach you will be much more difficult, and it'll take a lot more out of you. Next time you'll _notice_ when you need to rest."

Hinata hardened her expression. "I understand," she said with a nod. "I'm ready for it."

"Good. I'll give you a week or two. Come see me at the mansion whenever you feel rested up enough, but it better be at _least_ a week from now. If you come before then, I'll refuse to teach you anymore." Simply put. And it might have sounded a little harsh, but Hinata understood that Sasuke just wanted to make sure she was up for whatever was to come during their next training sessions.

"Hai," she said, bowing deeply again. He watched her a moment before walking away, and then disappearing.

* * *

Hanabi watched silently from the trees as Sasuke parted from her sister. This was the second day she had been here, watching them, after becoming curious as to where her sister had started disappearing to in the afternoons. She was sure that Sasuke had been aware of their audience both times, but Hanabi could care less what he thought, and he didn't seem to mind anyway. Or at least, he hadn't said anything to Hinata about it. He _did_ glance Hanabi's way from time to time, eyeing her hiding position, but never said a word.

The first day watching them, Hanabi had been surprised to discover how Hinata was spending her free time, but then she had become even more surprised when she realized Hinata's progress. Echoing Sasuke, she could only think that her sister's fighting skills had become _impressive._ She had never expected such a thing from sweet, sensitive, quiet little Hinata. After all, it was Hanabi and Neji who had the best fighting experience and techniques in the family; it was they two who specialized at this. At first when she saw how well her sister was doing, Hanabi had wondered, just who did Hinata think she was? Learning from Sasuke Uchiha? Was she trying to surpass her family members? But through listening, and watching the two of them, she came to realize that Hinata just wanted to be prepared to defend herself - and Hinata was _strong_, stronger than Hanabi ever would have guessed.

Of course, the incident that had passed not too long ago, the rumors that had spread throughout the family when Hinata had been raped, had been most embarrassing and unbearable for Hinata, but had somehow been even more embarrassing for Hanabi. She had always been so... so disappointed and shamed at having such a weak, helpless older sibling like Hinata. Hanabi was, after all, only a few years younger than Hinata, but she had always been stronger, always more outgoing and outspoken. To tell the truth, she had actually been a little jealous at first, when she watched Hinata train and saw firsthand how strong she had gotten. It was not like her, and it was not her place. Or at least, that was how Hanabi saw it.

Why had she even followed her sister out here? Well, first she had become suspicious when Hinata's attitude changed. Of course, the _incident_ that had happened with her was bound to change a few things about her, affect her life a little bit, but Hanabi had been more than a little shocked when Hinata had told some of their family members to "politely shut their faces" one day as they looked on her with shame. At then even more surprised at the satisfied look on Hinata's face as she walked away. She, stuttering little Hinata... telling her family to shut up. It was laughable, really.

But then, Hanabi had started noticing several little differences like that in Hinata's behavior and attitude, and after a while, had turned to their father about it. Hiashi agreed with her that Hinata was beginning to act most suspiciously. They had discussed the matter for a while, and then Hanabi had been shocked to realize that the old man actually _sympathized _with his eldest daughter. Hanabi could see the guilt in his eyes whenever the _incident_ was mentioned around him. After all, Hanabi had always been quite close to her father, and never before had she seen him throw so much emotion Hinata's way, however little it was now. Hinata had always been so weak in his eyes, had always looked down on her, and had looked upon _her_ -Hanabi- with respect, even treating _her_ as the eldest from time to time. Never once had Hanabi felt badly about it. Never once had she considered Hinata's feelings. After all, her father had taught her to be cold toward Hinata.

But suddenly, things were different. Suddenly, their father _wanted_ to become involved in Hinata's life, and when Hanabi bluntly questioned him about it, he admitted that he had no idea how to treat her sister. Somehow, Hanabi had felt a little piece of her world crumble at those words. She was stronger than Hinata. She was more loved, and respected, in their father's eyes. That's the way it was, the way it had always been. The situation had changed so suddenly that Hanabi felt her world unhinge.

She had always felt so ashamed by her sister. But when she saw Hinata train, saw how strong and determined she was, Hanabi felt that somewhere deep in the very back of her heart that maybe, just maybe, for once she could find a little pride for her sister. The event she was planning, for a few weeks from that day, would decide it once and for all.

* * *

It was a very boring two weeks at home for Hinata. She wondered if Sasuke were this bored as well, and wondered if he had made any plans for this time away from her. She was somehow sure that, despite his claim that he enjoyed teaching her, she was bothering him. It made her blush whenever she thought about it - how bold was she to insist on taking up so much of his time? - but she was so determined and ready to learn that she hardly thought about it.

Hinata was determined to stay away from Sasuke for at least two weeks, and for two reasons. To make sure that, first of all, she was rested enough, and second of all, to give him space. He was probably enjoying having her out of his hair for a while, she thought. But _what_ one earth was she supposed to _do_ during these two resting weeks? Hinata _was_ surprised at how much she slept during the first few days - Sasuke had been right, of course; the training really _had_ worn her out more than she'd thought. The first day that passed without training, Hinata slept well after noon the next day, and was surprised at it. When she woke, she saw that someone had left dinner sitting on her dresser near the bed. But she wondered which one of her family members would do that?

She had gone through the rest of that day in a haze, had taken a short walk outside, and then returned to her room for bed once more. She slept as much into the next day, which surprised her again, and again she was left another tray of food, but at least when she woke that day she felt finally awake. After a bit of consideration and quiet time in her room, Hinata decided to go see her father. She had not even caught a glance of him recently, and somehow felt the need to at least say hello. She wasn't sure quite why, but somehow she had become compelled to see him more lately. The look in his eyes now was much more... relieving. He had used to look upon her with shame, but since what had happened to her, his eyes had softened, and it actually seemed as if he was _avoiding_ her now. Before, he had simply ignored her presence. He had never left a room if she entered it. Now it was different somehow.

So, Hinata sought him out. On her way to find him, she suddenly began to feel nervous as an idea formed inside her mind. Words that had gone so long unspoken - would she find the courage to speak them now? Perhaps... perhaps she _should_ be more outspoken. Her sessions with Sasuke were giving her a bit of backbone, after all, and it was time to leave the old, helpless Hinata behind for good. It was time for change, and she had to make her father see that.

She found Hiashi, eventually. He was never that hard to find, it was just that Hinata had spent so much of her life avoiding him as much as possible that she's never actually _sought him out _before. He was sitting at the table in the main room of their house, alone, drinking tea in the silence. He seemed to be deep in thought. He must have made the servants leave the room. (The Hyuga family had _always_ had servants, after all. They were a powerful family in Konoha, almost as influential as the Uchihas had been in their days of glory).

It did not take long for him to notice her standing there. She had slipped just inside the doorway, leaning against the wall, watching until he noticed her. He was surprised to see her standing there, she could tell, but tried to hide it. "Yes?" he asked, not looking away from her. What was that look in his eyes? Where was the shame that had been there before? She had never been much of a daughter in his eyes, and so if she was different to him now, then what had she become to him? Would he claim her as his own now, when asked? Or would he go on acting as if she were a stranger in his house?

Silently, face red, Hinata crossed the room to stand opposite him from the short table. Rather than sitting across from him, she knelt on her hands and knees, fists clasped tight with knuckles going white. How could she say the words she wanted him to hear from her? "Father," she began, not lifting her head an inch. She stared hard at the floor in front of her face. "I-I want...." She paused, to swallow, and figure out exactly just what she wanted to say. How should she word this? After a moment, the words just came to her, and she let them flow, suddenly unafraid and uncaring of his reaction.

Her voice became hard. "For all my life you have hated me, looked down on me, and have been ashamed of me. I was not strong, so you disowned me as your daughter. You were sorry whenever you had to look at my face, and I would just... take it. I have cried so many tears because of your disapproval, and rejection."

She looked up into his cold, disbelieving eyes. He looked as if she had just grown an extra leg right in front of him. "But not anymore," she continued. "I won't be an embarrassment any longer. I _am_ part of this family, I _am_ your daughter, and I will be strong." She paused, and suddenly she realized exactly what she was saying, and to who. It hit her hard, and she was struck with some of her usual feelings toward her family. _Shame, embarrassment...._ Who was she to talk like this to her father? Bowing to the floor again, she said in a quiet voice, "That's all I wanted to say." And then she stood and walked out of the room, passing a shocked Hanabi on her way out.


	4. Worth

_**Disclaimer: **__I do not own~ Naruto at all _

_**A/N:**__ You know what I've realized? It's kind of hard to keep Sasuke in character =/_

_I find myself rewriting a lot of his dialog, because when I read over whatever I've written I'm like "Sasuke wouldn't say that!" and then I have to change a lot of things, trying to keep in mind what he's like in the anime. It happens in every Naruto story I write. _

* * *

Time passed quicker than she had expected it to. In just a few days she would be able to go back to training with Sasuke. She was a bit worried about what he had said, about things getting much more difficult - she wasn't looking forward to disappointing him again. But besides that fact, she actually found herself becoming a bit impatient, which was unlike her, and since the little mishap with telling a few of her family members to _shut their faces,_ they began saying even _more_ about her, to her face and to her back, which didn't help matters much. She ignored them as best as she could, but couldn't deny that her temper was rather short. She was really starting to look forward to training sessions again. Whether it would be difficult or not, at least it would give her something to do, and it would get her away from her family more again.

To make the time go by quicker, Hinata found herself spending a lot of her time in Konoha, away from the family and especially avoiding her father. Now that she had gotten the words out that she had wanted to say to him for so long, she actually felt really embarrassed about it, and was not looking forward to having to be around him again. She guessed that it was a good thing he wasn't so eager to be around her either.

Hinata was grateful to see her friends and teammates again. She even spent some time with Sakura and Ino in the afternoons, and then she once ate some ramen with Naruto at the ramen shop. Before, Hinata supposed that she would have been too embarrassed to follow through with something like that - she probably would have seen it as a date. However, now whenever she looked at Naruto's face, and remembered all the shy, childish thoughts she had once had about him, she shuddered away from it. She was a different girl now, a stronger girl, and she wouldn't blush and stutter for him anymore. Instead she focused on having actual conversation with him, asking him how he had been and how were things in Konoha. He answered with his usual shrugs and smiles, replying with things she might have guessed - he was happy, Konoha was doing fine, but things were a little boring since they hadn't been on any missions lately.

Hinata found herself pleased at the end of the meal when Naruto commented on how different she was acting - a little smug, even. It was a change for the good though, he quickly insisted. He had been wondering when she was going to finally lighten up.

Naruto insisted on walking Hinata back to the Hyuga house, and it was a good thing that she didn't have feelings for him anymore.... This was not a date, _definitely _not a date, she told herself. But still, she had to admit, she blushed a little as she asked why he wanted to walk her. Naruto looked from side to side as if expecting to see something, and it was hard for Hinata to hold back a little laugh when he said, "You never know what kind of creep shows could be out around here at night. It's not safe for you to walk alone." Somehow she found his remarks strikingly ironic. If only he knew....

"So..." he started. It was an awkward silence they held up between them. Hinata wasn't much of a conversation starter, so she'd been waiting on him to say something. "What's been up with you lately Hinata?" he asked. But his words did not sound casual; there was a hidden meaning there, another question he wanted answered, and Hinata knew what he meant. He was asking why she had changed all the sudden.

But what should she say? "What do you mean?" she asked, trying to play it up innocently.

"Well, first you disappeared on us, worrying everybody. Then you show up again, and start avoiding everyone. Whenever you are around, you act different. You're just not you anymore."

"Really?" she said faintly. She hadn't expected Naruto to be so perceptive. "I hadn't noticed."

He shrugged, as if it were nothing, and once at the Hyuga house, he grinned as she stood at the porch waved. Once he was gone, no longer visible in the night, Hinata gulped hard. It was time to finally throw away whatever was left of her old self. It was time to cast away all feelings she still held dear of Naruto. She would not dote on him anymore. She would not continue to embarrass herself around him anymore.

With a quiet sigh, she headed inside.

* * *

To her utter surprise, Hinata saw Sasuke a few days _before_ she had planned on going over to his house. His arrival at the Hyuga house was entirely unexpected.

It was morning, early. The sun had just risen above the treetops, and Hinata was already rolling out of bed. She didn't like sleeping in late, and waking up early was just a habit now, something that she'd grown used to over the years, but on days like this she really wished that she had the will to just roll over in her blankets and go back to sleep. She was not looking forward to another day of waiting for the time to pass.

It actually surprised Hinata a bit, when she thought about it, about the fact that she had really nothing in her life to look forward to, other than the training sessions with Sasuke. Surely there must be _something_ else for her. Something other than this. She had all but abandoned her team by now, and yes, she regretted that, but Kurenai didn't mind, and Hinata wanted to wait until she was perfectly ready before showing off any of her new skills in front of anybody other than Sasuke. She did not want to disappoint her teammates again.

Sleepy eyed, she was on her way to the kitchen when she heard voices in the main room. Her father was talking to somebody. "I'm here looking for Hinata. I just have to inform her of something, before I set out today." That was Sasuke's voice, a part of her brain exclaimed, and suddenly she was wide awake.

Her father made no reply that Hinata heard, but he had no need to. She walked in to find him face to face with Sasuke in the open doorway. Hiashi turned Hinata's way when he realized that she had entered the room. She shot Sasuke a quizzical look as he watched her from behind her father. "Sasuke Uchiha is here looking for you, Hinata," her father said, and there was a heavy question burning in his eyes. She blushed deeply, hoping that he wouldn't get the wrong impression.

Hiashi walked past Hinata to leave the room, and the quick glance he shot her was a significant one. Almost suspicious even. Oh, what would she tell him later if he asked her about this? "Yes Sasuke?" she asked, focusing on the present.

"I just wanted to let you know," the boy started out. "The Hokage finally has a mission for us. A big one. My first S-rank, in fact. I don't know when I'll be back."

She hesitated. "Oh.... Well that's good I guess. Congratulations, Sasuke." She did feel happy for him. Never mind the fact that her heart sank slowly to her stomach when she realized that she would have to wait so much longer for him to start training her again.

"I'm sorry. It looks like we'll have to put off your training a little longer." He paused for a moment. "Maybe you should go back to working with your team and your sensei again. Show them what you've learned. I bet they'll be impressed. And, at least now you know enough to defend yourself if you ever get attacked again."

Hinata blushed and bowed her head. She wished it did not sound so much like he was talking to a child. "Hai," she said with a grimace that she hid from him.

It was awkward after that. It was difficult to know what to say to each other. They usually just acted as pupil and instructor - almost professional, if that's the way you wanted to look at it. But they'd never been much on small talk, and Hinata was not the only one to shift uncomfortably in those moments of silence. Sasuke grimaced a little, and reached out to punch her arm lightly. She blinked in surprise. It was the first real openly friendly gesture he had ever made toward her. "You've done well so far. You're strong, and I think you're going to keep getting stronger. Just don't forget what you said about next time not needing someone to hold your hand back to Konoha."

She nodded. "Yes I remember. Thank you, Sasuke, for all your help. Perhaps it will be fun to train together again sometime-" she left out the part that it would mostly be him teaching her rather than the two of them working together "-but for now maybe we should just forget about it. Go on your mission. It's not..." she bit her tongue, unsure if she wanted to say it. She didn't want to offend him or anything. "It's not like I need you here to protect me. I'm fine without you here."

As she had suspected she would, she regretted the way she had phrased her statement as soon as the words were out of her mouth. It only made things more awkward, and this time even Sasuke blushed. "Yeah," he said with a little huff. "You'll be fine. So I'll see you around."

She nodded again. "Yeah. See you." And as she had done with Naruto the night before, Hinata stood on the porch and waved him off. It was not until he was gone that she realized, with her cheeks flaming red, that she had been in her night clothes the entire time he had been there. "Oh!" she exclaimed, frustrated with herself. He must have thought she was an idiot.

* * *

Hinata was depressed.

What the hell was she supposed to do now that Sasuke wasn't around to train her? It wasn't exactly as if she could just go back to her old life and the way things were before - she was a completely different person now. It was hard to be at home, surrounded by people who she hated, people who hated her, but it was hard to be in Konoha too. She hated feeling that she was lost in a crowd, so tired of feeling as if people were watching her, expecting something from her. She had nothing to do, nothing to give to them at all. And on top of all that, Naruto was becoming an almost unbearable, irresistible company. There was no doubt that he felt _something_ for her - after all, every time he spotted her, he felt the need to be around her for however long she was in the village, insisting on walking her home again every night. It was unbearable because she didn't _want _him to be this way to her, and irresistible, because it was hard to ignore all the old feelings she had had for him when they rose to the surface.

It was almost as if, where Sasuke had pushed her forward to being a more outspoken, stronger individual, Naruto reversed it, changing her back into the old Hinata from before for hours at a time. Hinata could do nothing to prevent it. Whenever he was around, whenever he looked at her and talked to her and walked with her everywhere, she couldn't help but think of him, and remember how her feelings had been. She'd blush, she'd stutter, she'd stay quiet. It was agonizing. Because every day after it had happened, as soon as she was alone with herself again, she became so frustrated. It was an unstoppable force; for some god-knows-what reason, Hinata was _meant_ to be, _destined_ to be shy and stupid whenever she was around Naruto Uzumaki. And she might have even considered going back to liking him again, maybe even asking him out, if she didn't hate so much the person she was whenever she was around him.

So, she couldn't stay home, and she couldn't go into Konoha without running into Naruto. That left very few options for her. Every now and then she would go into the woods, to the various places where she and Sasuke had trained, far from Konoha, and practice on her own, her techniques and chakra charged with all the emotions she was feeling. Surprisingly, one of the principal emotions fueling her was rage. For some surprising indescribable reason, she just felt _angry_ a lot. Sometimes she had to escape from her house, even in the middle of the night, or slip away from the company of others to go out to some secluded place where she could knock a few trees down. It was as if all the emotion she had kept stored away throughout her life were suddenly rising to the surface, anger most of all. She just couldn't keep it down, just couldn't hold it back.

At the rate she was going, there was some major deforestation going on around Konoha lately.

So, she was angry, she was bored, and she was depressed. She needed _something_, she just couldn't figure out what it was. It was frustrating to feel that burning desire inside her chest, and to have not a clue as to how to satisfy the need. She didn't even know what the need _was_, just that it was the reason why she kept running off to the forest so much all the time. She didn't even try to start training with her team again. They didn't seem to mind - or at least, they didn't bother her about it - and she really didn't want them, or anyone else, to see her like this. Her moments of rage were for herself. She would be too embarrassed if she were to act that way around anyone else.

And then one day, something happened. Something that broke her daily routine.

Hinata was spending a rare day at home. She was sort of moping, really. She didn't want to see Naruto today, nor did she particularly feel like seeing anybody else. She would have stayed in her room for the better part of the day, but being in the same room, surrounded by the same walls all the time, gave her a headache, and she felt suffocated by it. She walked pointlessly to the kitchen to give her something to do, but once she got there she realized that she wasn't sure how to proceed. For a moment she stood at the sink, considering what to do, and scowled lightly when one of her family members entered the room. Hinata could feel her temper bubbling dangerously, just beneath the surface, but her cousin Neji showed no surprise at the sneer. Some people in her family were just beginning to get used to this newfound temper within her, but the look of surprise never failed to show on their faces. Except for cold, steely Neji of course. In many ways, he was just like Sasuke.

Feeling another bout of rage coming on, Hinata stalked off with every intention of leaving for the forest. She decided to take the back way out - closer to the safety and seclusion of the trees. Just a normal day. Just another one of her moments. But she was stopped in the courtyard behind the house. Stopped dead at the sight of her father, Hiashi, standing across the way from her, looking every bit as if he had just been standing there, waiting for her to come out. Hinata had not seen more than a passing glance of him since the day she had confronted him, excluding the day that Sasuke had stopped by of course. But Hiashi did not seem surprised or ashamed to see her now. He not did even turn his eyes away from her. And then, he nodded at her, actually acknowledging her.

The muscles in Hinata's body stiffened as she tensed. She didn't really know how to react to this. She didn't have much time to think on it though, because before she was fully able to process the situation and consider what to do about it, she felt a presence from behind. Without thought or hesitation, Hinata spun on the heels of her feet to catch someone else's foot in midair, aimed at her face. It was her sister.

"Hanabi!" Hinata exclaimed in surprise, feeling the rage bubbling again. Hanabi sprung lightly into the air, as if her attack had not been blocked at all, and went for Hinata's face again, this time with the other foot. "What are you doing?" Hinata demanded as she evaded her sister's second attack.

Hanabi ignored her, and suddenly the smaller girl was attacking with furious determination, kicking harder, hitting faster, spinning in the air, pushing Hinata and their fight out into the courtyard. By the time they were that far back, Hinata was seeing red. The anger she felt was boiling in her veins, chakra flowing throughout her body - her rage had hit its peak. Apparently a fight, an honest fight, without anybody holding back, was what Hinata had been craving for all along.

Suddenly Hinata forgot that her father was there, and that people could be watching. She forgot everything else. All that was important now was Hanabi. The only thing she knew was their fight.

Abruptly Hinata changed up her game. She was grinning as she switched from defensive to offensive mid-step. It was satisfying to see the slight surprise on Hanabi's face, but with that Hinata's sister's determination only seemed to grow. Hinata didn't know why - maybe it was the words she had spoken to their father that day that pressured Hanabi to fight her - but she didn't really care either. She would beat her sister. She would win this fight. In that moment, on that day, it's what she _lived_ for.

Everything was in rhythm, their fight was like a dance, and a well choreographed one at that. Hinata got in a few hits here, Hanabi a few there. Hinata could feel bruises begin to form. She ignored them. Hanabi was doing the same; she treated Hinata's blows as if they were annoying flies buzzing around her head. Neither was wearing the other down much. For a while, the fight was going nowhere, close to the edges of pointlessness. Hinata wondered if it would all come down to who was most determined, who would last the longest - it had to be _her_ right? She _had_ to be more determined than Hanabi was.

Without thought, Hinata decided that it was time to really get serious. She pulled out a move that Sasuke had taught her during the first week of training. Chakra and anger surged through her as one, leaving her body, and flinging Hanabi's tiny body into the air. Without pause, Hinata chased after her sister's flying body. She had never really practiced this move on a moving object before, but Hinata still knew what to do. She leaped into the air, not feeling the sweat that was running down her forehead at all. She caught Hanabi's ankle in midair, but the girl was better than Hinata had expected, even knowing before hand how strong her sister was. Hanabi's body twisted in the air, and she spun to hit Hinata in the face with her foot, and it was Hinata's body that went flying this time. Her move had backfired.

Hinata hit the ground, and rolled until she hit one side of the house with an "_oof!_" Without hesitation she rolled back away from the wall, and sprang to her feet, breathing hard. It was somewhat gratifying to see Hanabi breathing and sweating just as hard. They stared one another down as if they could communicate with glares. They were at a standstill now, about thirty paces away from each other Hinata guessed. Vaguely Hinata was aware of the fact that there were more people around now, but she hardly noticed them.

Hinata and Hanabi stood unmoving, both of them struggling to catch their breath. Now was her chance. As she activated her Byakugan, Hanabi did the same. Now they were staring with new eyes....

Hanabi reached into her belt pouch and pulled out a kunai. Hinata pulled out one of her own on instinct. So things were really getting serious now. She wondered, was Hanabi trying to kill her? Surely she wouldn't do something so extreme in front of their family. ...unless the family had told her to of course, which was entirely possible. In fact, Hinata thought her family might actually encourage such an attempt, and she had to wonder how they might feel if _she_ ended up killing Hanabi instead. Of course, the Hyuga family hadn't known about Hinata's training with Sasuke. They didn't know how good she had gotten. They must have been surprised when they saw that she was an actual threat in this fight - her father must be the most surprised of all.

However, outside of her battle strategy plans, Hinata knew that she didn't want to kill her sister. She and Hanabi had never been very close, but they had still grown up together. Hinata had always hoped, and hoped in vain that one day she would find a friend in her younger sister. And also, now that it came to this, Hinata was proud of herself for sticking out the battle this long, but she wasn't sure if she was yet good enough to win. Her sister had always been so much stronger than her, and Neji even stronger. Hinata wondered, could she really be at Hanabi's level after just two weeks of hard training? Could she surpass it? The thought bewildered her, seemed impossible - but she knew that she would try.

Hinata crouched and ran forward at the thought, shaking off her doubts as power flooded her system. She could feel her rage, her chakra, and she _would_ win this fight. Hanabi stepped forward to meet her. Again and again they clashed, kunai on kunai, steel meeting steel and making a slight ringing as it hit. Hinata threw her kunai at her sister, the first daring move, but she knew that the girl would easily dodge it. Before the first was out of her hand, Hinata already had another weapon in the other.

Hinata decided to use another move taught by Sasuke. Concentrating heard, feeling even more sweat beading on her forehead, she channeled her chakra through on of the kunai. She wouldn't have to concentrate so hard, if she weren't trying to prevent the death of her sister. But as it was, perhaps she could unarm her and get an extra hit in. When weapon met weapon again, Hanabi's kunai flew out of her hand as if they had been holding powerful magnets at opposite poles. In the same instant, Hinata hit Hanabi in the stomach hard, ducking down to kick her sister's feet out from beneath her. Hanabi's eyes were wide as she began to fall, and in that second spun to land on her feet like a cat falling from a tree.

Hanabi had out another weapon, and they fought at a close range for a little while, until suddenly Hanabi flipped back, turned and ran up one of the walls of the Hyuga house. Hinata could see it now. She could see the effort clear on her sister's face, that Hanabi was actually _struggling _to find a way to beat her. Maybe a victory would not be as difficult to obtain as Hinata had thought.

Hanabi did not immediately attack again as Hinata expected. Instead, she just stopped, staring at Hinata with those piercing eyes as she stuck to the wall like a fly. Up until this point, their battle had been going on in such a quick motion that Hinata's muscles twitched, eager to keep up the pace. "Why did you stop?" Hinata demanded when her sister still didn't move. She could feel the rage slashing at her insides now, dying for the fight to continue. She _wanted_ to win. She wanted it so badly.

Hanabi didn't answer. Instead, she pushed herself effortlessly from the wall, flipping so as to land easily on her feet back on solid ground. Hinata was still ignoring their onlookers, but it was more difficult now that the fight had suddenly stopped. Hanabi stood, still as stone, face expressionless. "There is hate in your eyes," she said quietly. And without another instant, the girl ran at her again, straightforward into Hinata. They clashed once, and for a moment Hinata thought that the fight was really on again. However, Hanabi seemed to have different ideas. She slashed once, Hinata blocked it easily, and then backed off again, stalking around like an angry cat. She was trying to buy herself time, Hinata realized. Trying to come up with a strategy. Stalling.

Was she trying to break Hinata's resolve? Hanabi's words from a moment ago hit her harder than they should. She could feel the sneer on her face, and inside, the fire burned. Hate? a small voice wondered. Not hate. She couldn't imagine ever _hating_ anything. Or maybe that was just her old self talking. Maybe something else had happened to her, that day in the woods when those men had grabbed her. Maybe that was when the rage within her had actually sparked to life.

_If there is any hate within me,_ Hinata thought angrily. _It is only because they, my family, put it there!_ She wanted to scream it at Hanabi - wanted to scream it right into her little sister's face. But somehow, deep inside her, past the fire and way down into the charred region of her heart, Hinata knew that she was wrong. Not in the sense that her family might be to blame. It was true they had hated her, and they had looked down upon her and said awful things about her, even when they bothered to acknowledge her at all. And that _did _make her angry, it did make her _want _to hate.

But Hinata was afraid of this rage inside her. One day, it was going to consume her heart completely, and she didn't want that. Everything she wished for screamed against it. She wanted justice in the world. She wanted to make right all the things that had managed to go so wrong. But she could not accomplish that by fighting her sister for revenge. No, if she was going to do this, Hinata was going to do it the right way - respectfully, but she _would _win. And she would win to prove herself, not to gain personal satisfaction. She would show her family who she really was. But she would not hate them.

In the fifteen seconds it had taken all this to flash through Hinata's mind, Hanabi was ready to spring again. Hinata saw it as if in slow motion, her sister's movement forward to meet her. Hinata knew that _this_ would be the final move of the match. She prepared herself, taking on a defensive position. She recognized the glint in Hanabi's eyes when the girl saw by Hinata's body movements that she was not going to fight back. A half second before they clashed, Hinata changed her game so quickly that Hanabi could only register, but couldn't change her own direction to avoid the attack. Actually, Hinata was a bit disappointed in her sister. If she was such a great fighter, she should have seen through that.

And then Hinata struck her. It was a good thing that she had reeled in her rage before that instant, because if she had still been angry enough, she might have gotten careless and hit her sister with enough force to snap a tree. Hanabi grunted a little, when the final blow of chakra hit her stomach. Without hesitation, Hinata spun to deliver one last to the back of her sister's neck. Eyes rolling back into her head, Hanabi collapsed, and Hinata's knees buckled, as if her body wanted to collapse along with her. She let go of the Byakugan almost without realizing it.

She felt no pain then, though there was blood running down her face. She and Hanabi had simply ignored the hits that their weapons had connected. Luckily, that had not happened so much. And as she knelt there, with her knees pressing into the cold stone of the courtyard, realization struck her like a bolt of lightning. She gasped quietly. She had beaten Hanabi. She had defeated her sister in a fair fight. And suddenly, it didn't matter that any of their family had seen or not. More than that, it was not until that moment that Hinata realized, she had wanted to prove her worth to _herself_. She was just at that moment realizing that after all the years of being told that she was worthless, she had been beating herself up and blaming her for it, pitying herself and putting herself down - and they had been _wrong_.

Relief washed over her, and goose bumps ran up her arms. With a shaky hand she wiped some of the blood from her forehead to keep it from getting into her eyes.

Breathing hard, Hinata felt tears rising to the surface. She barely noticed that the rage from before had finally burnt out. She was so overcome with emotion, so proud of herself, as if she had passed some kind of test. But she could not push away thoughts of her family for long. Hanabi was conscious. Hinata could hear her throwing up somewhere behind her. Slowly, she turned her head to look to where her father had been standing before the fight had began. The man was still standing there, shock clearly painted across his face. He seemed to flinch back a little when Hinata's eyes met his.

In that moment, a single thought bubbled to her mind in the midst of all that overwhelming emotion. "Are you proud of me _now _father?" she cried out, and she made it sound like an accusation. Hinata wanted to sob, but it was as if she had forgotten how. She did not turn away from her father's face, or even blink. What would he do now? What could he say to that? Hiashi's answering reply was so quiet that she couldn't hear him, but Hinata saw his lips form the words. "I am," he said. Only those two little words.

Feeling somewhat cold inside, Hinata turned her eyes away, and began to see the faces of the others around her. Nearly _all_ of the Hyuga family was there. How had they known? How had they all shown up in such a short time? Had her father left to fetch them in hopes of humiliating Hinata, to show off what he thought would be her defeat? Had he called on them? She didn't know. She hadn't been paying attention. But when her eyes turned to Neji, _his_ expression was more puzzled than surprised. Had he guessed that she could do it? Had he ever known how strong she could be? He acknowledged her with a slight nod, and then went to her sister's side. Hinata watched in awed silence. She still couldn't believe it. She wondered idly if her family would hate her even more now.

"Hinata." She looked back over to her father. He had called to her, but he looked like he didn't know what to say. His brow was furrowed, and there was an expression on his face like none that she'd ever seen. Then, hesitantly, he raised his hands, half reaching out to her. "Come here," he said, his voice still carrying a tone of shock. Hinata eyed him a moment longer before standing upright on her shaky legs. The fight had taken more from her than she'd thought, and she was surprised. Suddenly she felt totally exhausted. Perhaps it was the after effects of her fire burning out. In any case, Hinata was half stumbling as she made her way over to Hiashi. When she tumbled forward at his feet, Hiashi knelt down to help her up.

When they were standing again, Hiashi did something that he had never before done by what Hinata could remember. He caught her in a sudden, but awkward, embrace. "I am sorry Hinata..." he breathed. "I should have realized long ago that family is so much more important than foolish pride.... I saw that look of hate in your eyes, and I couldn't believe that I was to blame for it being there. I am so sorry."

For some reason, Hinata didn't care if his words were lies. She was convinced that he wouldn't be saying these things to her if she had _lost_ the fight to Hanabi, but still, when she heard him speak apologies to her, the dam broke, and Hinata began to sob.

* * *


	5. Storm

_**Disclaimer: **__I don't own Naruto, yo._

_**A/N:**__ This is going to be a long chapter. I can just sense it._

_p.s. there always seems to be a HUGE time gap before I post new chapters... I apologize T_T_

* * *

Hinata learned of Sasuke and his team's return the day of. Three weeks after they had departed for their mission. And though before he had left Hinata had told Sasuke that they should forget training together for a while, she could not help but feel a surge of hope inside her chest at the news. Sasuke didn't like for Hinata to go around thanking him all the time, but she knew that she had to seek him out in a few days and do exactly that, because if it weren't for him, there's no way she would have stood a chance against her sister.

Everyone had been shocked by her unquestionable victory, of course. And her father, though she still sort of suspected that his newfound respect stemmed entirely from the fact that she had won a fight against her sister, was now treating her as an actual daughter, instead of pretending that she hardly existed. He was still a little awkward about it, but still he oversaw her new training everyday, and complimented her a surprising amount. He had claimed, that day, that family was more important than pride, but old habits must die hard, because that still seemed to be all he cared about. He pressed her to become stronger, constantly praising her for how far she had already come. She didn't mind his sweet lies though. She supposed that it was better than him disowning her anyway.

Oh yes, by the way, she was training with Neji now. Like Sasuke before him, he had _volunteered _to teach her, and Hinata had been shocked speechless by the offer, only managing to stammer out a pathetic, "yes" and later a "thank you." It still took some getting used to, and her father commenting from the sidelines didn't help very much. Neji's training was much more difficult than Sasuke's had been though, which really wasn't all that surprising when she thought about it. It wasn't that she thought Sasuke was _weaker_ than Neji exactly, it was just that Sasuke was a better teacher. He had taught her at a slower pace, with better understanding and consideration of her limitations. Neji, on the other hand, pushed her until she could barely stand at the end of the day.

But despite all that, Hinata was immensely proud of herself. She thought that she could just burst with how... well, not how _important_ she felt, really, because that just made her seem a little selfish. More like she was just so relieved at how not-worthless she felt she had become. She felt like she was actually a _somebody_ now. She no longer had a reason to feel sorry for herself. And now that her rage had finally dissolved and melted away, she found that she could actually stand to train with her teammates and sensei again - whenever Neji gave her "time off" anyway....

Ironically enough, now that Hinata was finally accepted by her family she could hardly get them to lay off. They all praised her now, each one of them claiming individually how proud they were of her and how they had _always_ known how strong she really was. She was a Hyuga after all, they said. They acted as if they hadn't been saying hateful things about her just a few days ago. But as she had expected, there were still a few of them who hated her even _more_ now, but at least that was better than the petty lies spilling from everyone else's mouth. No matter which side they were on, Hinata ignored them all anyway.

Anyway, Hinata couldn't _wait_ to tell Sasuke what had happened. She was nearly jumping out of her skin with anticipation. She wanted to see his reactions as she relayed every little detail of her victory back to him. As it was, Hinata could hardly stand the patience to wait, but knew she should. Sasuke had just gotten back form a serious three-week mission, and needed some time to recover and relax. Even so, she ended up going earlier than planned, unable to wait for longer than even two days.

With an excited grin, Hinata ended up on his doorstep, and through the anticipation was unable to notice the fact that it seemed unusually dark inside the Uchiha mansion. She knocked on the door impatiently, bouncing on her toes. However, when Sasuke finally did open the door for her, she didn't quite get the welcome she had expected.

"Sasuke?" she asked, her excitement slowly, slowly sinking backward into her chest.

"Come in, if you want," he said, turning back into the dark house and leaving the door open for her. Hesitantly, she stepped inside, following him to the kitchen as she had done on her last visit. The kitchen was dark too, and she flipped a light on without asking permission. There was a bottle of sake on the table, and another one - empty - on the floor next to one of the chairs. Sasuke sat and took a long drink, finally gesturing for her to sit across from him.

Hinata sat in silence, worriedly taking in the sight of him. Sasuke was... a wreck. His eyes were hollow, little bruises beneath them as if he hadn't been getting enough sleep in a while. His hair was a mess too, more so than the usual at least seemingly neat disarray. He smelled like alcohol. She wondered how much he'd been drinking. His clothes were all wrinkled and looked slept in. She'd never seen him like this before, had never imagined anything getting beyond his high walls of steel. If anything, Sasuke was the opposite of outward emotion, but it was obvious now he had fallen hard. She wondered what so severe could have happened to affect him like this? His mission must have been more serious than Hinata had realized.

"Sasuke, what is it?" She tried to ask gently, probingly, but her words came out sounding slightly horrified. If it affected Sasuke like this, it must really be bad.

He was quiet, drinking his sake.

"You really shouldn't drink anymore..." she said. "I think you've had enough."

But Sasuke shook his head, his eyes far away as if he weren't entirely there. His face was sunken in a little too. So he hadn't been eating well, either. And the dim lighting of the kitchen made intense shadows against his skin. He looked a little scary, actually. Like he was staring into a nightmare. "Not enough for what I've seen," he said quietly. His voice was hard and monotone, devoid of emotion.

Barely hesitating, Hinata reached out and easily slipped the bottle from his hand, holding it away from him. He didn't seem to care. "What happened to you?" she demanded. "What did you see?" Why did this scene seem so wrong? So reversed? It made her almost angry. _She _was supposed to be the weak one, not _Sasuke_.

But he shook his head again. "You don't need to know."

She thought about that a minute, and then said, "Sasuke, if you didn't want me to know then you wouldn't have let me know that there was anything wrong in the first place. You wouldn't have even opened the door."

Sasuke swallowed hard, merely shrugging at her logic.

"Sasuke. _Tell _me what's wrong." She would make him tell her if she had to.

"No..." he said quietly. "I really... you shouldn't be here. Maybe you should leave."

"Why'd you let me in then?"

He was quiet again for a while, until she actually began to wonder if he'd heard her. Then he said, in that same emotionless tone, "I don't know." He looked like he wanted to say more though, so she waited. There was a slightly, slightly thoughtful tone to his voice when next he spoke. "I saw you when you were at your worst. I guess it's just... payback, I guess."

"...I don't quite follow that." He didn't say anything.

She had to think for a moment before she understood what he meant. _Oh._ Sasuke had "seen her at her worst" - after those men had grabbed her and.... He had been the only one to get the full-force of the situation blown upon him. Her half naked and sobbing on his shirt.

Sasuke never showed his emotion to the outside world. It was painfully embarrassing for him, Hinata knew that now. Because of stupid pride, of course. It was why half the people in Konoha were afraid of him, anyway. But Sasuke must have felt a little obligated to her somehow, must have thought that she's be embarrassed for him seeing her the way she was that dark night. So Hinata supposed that she could see his logic there, an eye for an eye. He had seen her so messed up, and now here he was a mess himself. He was the one broken now. Reversed situations again. What had happened to him?

"I saw...." He swallowed hard again. "I was too late to save them. They were just... too small to protect themselves." His face twisted into an angry grimace. He was blaming himself for something.

An idea formed in Hinata's mind at his words, but it only made her more curious. "What?" she asked in hushed tones.

"He killed his family. His daughters, his nieces, his cousins and friends...." He pounded one of his fists on the table. _There _was the emotion.

"Sasuke!" she exclaimed, feeling a gut wrenching pain in her stomach.

"The bodies were all piled up in one room. There was... a lot of blood. All those children."

"Sasuke...." Her voice was quieter this time. She wanted to throw up.

He hesitated then, still shaking with anger. And then, slowly, his spirits sank again. He seemed to weaken with it. "I'm sorry, Hinata." His head sank to the table. "I shouldn't be telling you this. You need to leave."

"What?" she demanded incredulously. "I'm not leaving." How could he think that she would just stand up and walk away when he was like this?

His sat up again, slowly. "A ninja... has to do his job. No strings attached. No emotions. We are pawns of war. We're just there to get the job done."

"Sasuke..." she tried to interrupt him, but his words flowed over hers.

"Even if we have to clean up the job done by a maniac who killed everyone he knew. Even if it's just like what happened here, what happened to my family...." He grimaced again. "We didn't even catch the bastard who did it."

The room fell quiet after that. There were emotions flowing through Sasuke's eyes now; she watched them in silence. Anger and frustration, pain, horror, disgust. Shame. Hinata just didn't know what to say. Actually, now she was feeling a little embarrassed for _him_. What must it take out of him to allow her to see this kind of emotion? She felt that her own eyes were wide with shock and revulsion. Of all things, she hadn't expected her day to turn out like this. And she could see the pictures all too clearly in her head, the things that Sasuke was telling her. With a shudder of disgust, Hinata shook herself and got to her feet, not really sure what she was doing. Then she saw the sake bottle still in her hand, and was once again aware of the stench of alcohol rolling off of Sasuke's body.

Without a moment's thought, Hinata turned on the spot and walked over to the sink. She then promptly turned the bottle upside down and poured every bit of its contents down the drain. She walked back over to Sasuke, hands on her hips, putting a business-like expression on her face to hide the things she felt when she saw him like this. "Where is your bathroom?" she asked.

Sasuke didn't look at her. He pointed to a hallway across the room from him. "Back there. At the end."

With a little internal sigh, Hinata reached down and began to pulled him up, trying to get one of his arms around her shoulders so that she could support him. _That_ brought him to the present. At last, a little life seemed to stir in him again, a little of the normal Sasuke. "Wha- what are you doing?" He tried to resist her hold on him, but she wouldn't let him go.

"You _said_ that you were... what... paying me back? Since you had seen me that night in the woods, you're letting me see you like this now. Right? But you helped me then, and Iam sure as _hell _going to help you out of this." The surprise that flickered across his face was really quite satisfying. "And first thing's first. You _stink_ Sasuke. When did you last _bathe_? Jeez." She began to lead him in the direction he had pointed out to her. "And don't even _think_ about drowning yourself in there... or anything stupid like that. Because then I'll just have to be forced to barge in and take care of matters myself." She blushed as she said it, wondering if she would _really_ have the guts to walk in on Sasuke when he might very well be naked.

Sasuke was quiet while she spoke. Then, to her surprise, he whispered, "Thanks." She glanced sideways at him, and nodded. He sighed and straightened himself then, and with a promise not to try to kill himself while he was in the bathroom, asked her if she would wait in the living room for him while he composed himself.

* * *

It was almost an hour before Sasuke finally came into the living room. He looked... decent. Much more like himself, wearing clean clothes now, but his eyes still had dark shades under them, and he still looked like he needed a good meal and some sleep. "Sorry about that," he mumbled. He propped himself up against the kitchen doorframe, rather than cross the room to where she stood near the couch - she had gotten up when he entered. For some reason, Hinata felt that there was something a tiny bit symbolic about the distance between them. Sasuke didn't want to come any closer to her. Maybe it was emotional as well as physical. She sighed. Where exactly had _those_ thoughts come from?

"It's alright," she said, but wondered whether he was apologizing for the wait or for the way he had been acting earlier.

"So, why'd you come here?" Sasuke asked, not meeting her eyes.

She thought for a minute, and then shook her head. "Nothing," she said. "it's not important anymore."

"No, tell me," he pressed, looking at her now. "Something happen while I was gone?"

Despite herself, Hinata smiled slightly. She probably shouldn't be smiling here with him, not when the air around them still felt awkward and... sad. But she couldn't hold it in as she spoke the words. "I beat Hanabi in a fight. My father saw."

Sasuke thought for a minute, then grinned. "When I left I told you you should start training with your team again, not pick fights with your family.

She laughed lightly, glad to see a smile on his face again. "Well it wasn't exactly planned. She _attacked_ me. What could I do?"

"Good job, Hinata," he said, not smiling so widely now.

"It's all thanks to you, you know," she replied hastily, wanting to keep the smile there. She didn't want to see that hollow expression on him anymore. It was just unnatural; it threw everything out of balance. The world shifted, and Hinata liked the world the way it was when Sasuke smiled. Wait, did that sound weird? She shook the thoughts away as she continued, "If you hadn't helped me become stronger, I wouldn't have lasted a second."

He just shook his head. Silence filled the air as Hinata raked her brain for something to say. She'd never really been in a situation like this before. There was a need in her to comfort Sasuke, somehow... but it's not like she had a little handbook that told her how to deal with adolescent angsty Uchiha boys.

But, surprisingly, Sasuke saved her from having to come up with another conversation starter. He sighed, and stepped away from the doorframe. "C'mon. We'll go out to the woods and practice for a while."

Hinata's eyes grew a little wide at that. Of course, this is exactly where she had been hoping that this day was going to go, but... not like this. Not when Sasuke was so messed up. "Y-you sure you're up for it?" she asked as he crossed the room to her. Damn her for slipping into the stuttering habit.

He waved his hand, as if waving her concerns away. "Don't talk about it," he said as he stepped past her, out the front door. She followed him, and he continued without looking back at her. "Things like that are easier to deal with when you just don't think about it." He shrugged, and his tone was light, almost casual. But Hinata watched his stiff back as he walked away, and she knew there was something there. There was a lot more pain in Sasuke Uchiha than she had realized, and she wondered....

Hinata had hated her family for so long, had been rejected by them for nearly all her life, but still there had always been some slight hope of, one day, gaining their approval. But what about Sasuke? He had grown up mostly without a family, left only with sad memories of the things that his own brother had destroyed. The day Hinata had heard about his situation, she had been sad for him, but other than that hadn't thought much of it. Now she pitied him, though she felt bad doing it. Sasuke didn't want to feel pitied. Of course not.

It started to rain once they passed the walls of Konoha, and by the time they were very deep in the woods, it had become an all-out downpour. Hinata should have guessed that it would rain today. She'd seen the ominous looking clouds rolling in from the east, but hadn't thought much of them at the time. Surely if she had, she would have reconsidered going over to Sasuke's, because of course it would have canceled out any chance of them training today. "Maybe we should head back?" she suggested, still following behind Sasuke through the trees.

"No. It's good training exercise. You never know what kind of conditions to expect during battle... you need to get used to fighting in every kind of weather." She didn't have to think about it to see the reason in his words. "By the way, Hinata... what happened to all these trees?" He was looking down at all the fallen ones she'd snapped during her time of wild rampages. Hinata just laughed at him. Suddenly she was in a better mood; she didn't know why. Maybe she was just glad Sasuke was feeling better. Maybe she was just happy to be training with him again.

It was a funny thing that happened then. When they reached their destination, and finally stopped, Sasuke turned on Hinata seriously. She could tell by the look in his eyes that he was ready to get to business now, and Hinata tensed, mentally preparing herself for whatever was coming. Sasuke looked like he was going to rush her, but his eyes scanned her up and down her sodden form, and suddenly his expression changed and... he laughed. It was just a small chuckle, but it was clear in his face that her appearance amused him greatly.

Suddenly self-conscious, Hinata touched her face and asked, "What?"

Sasuke smirked a little. "Your hair. You look different. Like... your sister. Almost."

Hinata made a face at that. It was true, she was already completely soaked, and her hair always flattened and fell silky straight to her shoulders in the rain. It probably _did_ look like a shorter version of Hanabi's hair, and she supposed that the Hyuga eyes didn't help matters much. She frowned at Sasuke. "Aren't we training today?"

"Alright." But he was still smirking. "How about we not do anything new today?" he asked. "It's been a while since you've trained right? So maybe you should think of this as a sort of... review test, if you want."

Hinata felt a slight surprise at that. "Actually I have been training," she replied. "Neji's been teaching me now. And really I didn't think you were even going to teach me anymore. I... thought you just wanted to train together now, instead of on different levels, so I won't be a hindrance to you."

This time Sasuke looked surprised. "It's not a hindrance," he said quietly, and she almost couldn't hear him over the noise of the rain. "Neji's teaching you now? Wow." He paused, and then shrugged. "Well if you don't want to anymore...." His tone said that he didn't care, but she thought that his face looked just a tad bit disappointed.

"No, it's okay, really. You're a better teacher than Neji any day. I just thought you might be getting tired of it."

He gave another crooked smirk at that, and without another word he rushed at her.

They were out in the rain like that for Hinata didn't even know how long, but the sparring was much more intense now than it had been before. Sasuke wasn't holding back as much now that he knew how strong she was. Actually, about a half an hour through, when Sasuke still hadn't landed a hit on her, Hinata realized that he _wasn't_ going easy on her. He was actually _trying_ to hit her, and he couldn't. She grinned at him tauntingly, feeling suddenly over-confident, and Sasuke smirked back, amused.

Finally their little fight ended with Sasuke managing to get a better foothold on the ground than her, and Hinata herself went flying backward, splattering into the mud. Sasuke stood above her in an instant, the tips of his fingers against her throat, and grinning. She smiled back for a moment, still feeling the adrenalin of a good fight coursing like electricity in her veins... and then suddenly the feeling was gone, and she frowned. "Gee thanks," she grumbled as he helped her up from the mud. "Yuck," she said, wringing out her hands and watching the mud fly.

Sasuke chuckled. "You can wash up a bit at my place before you head home," he said. "I'd feel like a real asshole if I just left you looking like _that_."

She grimaced. _Hate to tell you but you __are__ an asshole, Sasuke._ She wanted to say it, just jokingly of course, playfully. But still, was Hinata on a well enough level with Sasuke for that? Could she say something like that to his face without him getting offended - or without her feeling like she was offending him? She blushed lightly. Why did any of that matter so much?

In silence, they started their way back to Konoha, neither of them feeling the need to go up into the trees and jump the branches. Of course it would have been faster, but the rain had eased up to a dull drizzle, like a bucket emptying the last of its contents, and it was an unspoken agreement that they would simply walk. It was... peaceful. For the first time in her life, Hinata thought, she felt content.

She didn't know for how long they had already been walking, each of them silent and deep in thought, before Hinata realized that Sasuke being so quiet might mean something was wrong. She didn't want him to go back to his wallowing. Hinata shot a quick glance worried at him, but he didn't seem distressed at all. She'd never seen him bite his lip like that before though. He must really be thinking hard.

She was about to ask him if anything was wrong, or maybe she was going to ask what he was thinking, but before she had the chance to say whatever it is she had been going to say, Sasuke spoke for her. "Hey, Hinata, can I ask you something?" He waited for an answer.

"Yes. What is it Sasuke?"

"That day when those men..." he trailed off, making a vague gesture. She knew what he meant, and nodded, wondering what he was so curious about. "You know, what happened, it made you stronger. You're a lot different now. You're family respects you, you can hold up your own in a fight, everything you've ever wanted, right?" She nodded again, not yet seeing the punch-line. "If you could, do you think you'd go back and change what happened that night?"

Hinata really had to think about that. What would she do if she had the chance? Would she go back to that day, knowing what was in store for her, turn back around and go home? Would she walk right into those men's trap, trading the pain for everything that she had now? Would she allow herself to be caught? Would she really want to change the past now, go back to being the old Hinata? She made a face at that.

"Can I ask you something Sasuke?" His eyes were saying _but you didn't answer my question first, _but she continued on anyway. "What happened to your family... was horrible." She swallowed hard, wondering just how shallow the ground upon which she was treading was. She didn't want to offend him, she especially didn't want to make him sad. But she'd already started this so she might as well finish. She took in a deep breath and sighed. "But it made you a stronger person too. Would _you_ want to go back and change that?" She hadn't even noticed it, but her voice had dropped almost to a whisper.

"I see your point," he replied just as quietly.

They fell silent again, but it was awkward now. They finally reached the village, said hello to the guards at the gate, and then headed for the old Uchiha mansion. And suddenly Hinata was wishing that she _hadn't_ brought up the incident with Sasuke's family... since their destination was the very place where it had happened. Sasuke's entire clan... killed by one maniac brother. How... horrible. There were no words for it. She swallowed hard again.

Once inside the house, it was worse. There weren't the sounds of wet sodden leaves squishing beneath their feet, or the bustle of the town moving along sluggishly in the rain, or the patter of the water falling from the sky and hitting everything it could. Everything fell quiet, the noise from the outside dropping to no more than a whisper. Sasuke handed Hinata a towel, and reminded her where the bathroom was. She _thought_ about sternly telling him not to start drinking any more sake as soon as her back was turned, but then she changed her mind. He didn't look like he was going to do anything else so stupid for the night.

Hinata was more of a mess than she had thought she'd been. The rain from the walk back to the mansion had done nothing to improve the mud that was caked onto most of her body. Grimacing and wincing at the cold, Hinata began to peel off her wet muddy clothes. She set them aside, hoping that not much of the mud would get onto the floor. She wanted to clean herself, not dirty up Sasuke's bathroom. But just what on earth was she going to do about those muddy clothes anyway? She shuddered at the thought of putting them back on.

Sasuke seemed to have the ability to read her mind. Just as the thought worked its way across her brain, a light knock came at the door. It was a hesitant knock, the kind of knock that clearly said, _I don't know if I should be doing this, but hey I need to tell you something...._ Hinata jumped at it, and quickly wrapped herself in the towel Sasuke had handed her. "Y-yes," she stuttered, her face flushing red.

It was quiet outside. She wondered if Sasuke was as embarrassed as she was. "I... figured you'd want some clean clothes to put on," said the Uchiha's muffled voice through the door. Well, he _sounded_ embarrassed anyway. "They're probably a little big on you but..." he paused. "I'll leave them by the door."

Hinata waited, listening for the retreat of his footsteps back down the hallway, and held her breath and waited a little longer. Finally she figured it was safe, and slowly, slowly turned the door knob. She peeked her nose through the crack to see that the hallway was empty, and a light was on in the kitchen. There were folded clothes at her feet, and she quickly snatched them up and shut the door again.

How humiliating. Why on earth did she have to change at Sasuke's house? and put on some of _his_ clothes? She unfolded the things to see that they were, in fact, much too big. But then again, Sasuke wasn't _too _much larger than her. He was pretty skinny, but he was tall, and had more muscle than her. Ah well, better than having to put back on those cold muddy things. Then again, she'd probably blush like crazy whenever he actually _saw_ her wearing his own clothes.

After several minutes of watering down her hair in the sink and wringing out the mud as best as she could, Hinata dressed in the fresh clothes, (they smelled good, like the faint smell of wood shavings) and made sure that she hadn't left a single spot on the otherwise spotless bathroom. Sasuke seemed to be a clean freak. How surprising.

She found him in the living room, reading a book of all things, a fire in the fireplace and a lamp lit behind him so that he could see. In typical male fashion he was sprawled out on his back on the couch, and there was an almost bored expression on his face. He looked up at her whenever he heard the sound of her bare feet brushing against the hardwood floor. Hinata hadn't noticed it until she saw what was going on beyond the window, but there was quite a storm going on outside now. Probably she should have at least noticed the pounding sound of the rain on the rooftop, or the wind rushing by, or the faint sound of rolling thunder, but she had been too preoccupied. Besides, storms were relaxing. As a child, they used to put her to sleep, and even now she still sometimes liked to listen to the goings on of the weather outside whenever things got like this.

"Thank you for the clothes," she _nearly_ stuttered, biting her tongue as he studied her up and down. She felt strange in his clothes. "What should I do with these?" She gestured to the muddy ones she held in her hands.

Sasuke shrugged, making that vague gesture again, and told her to just throw them on the floor somewhere.

Huh. Well, at least he kept the bathroom clean. Apparently he didn't care about the rest of the house.

In silence, Hinata set her dirty clothes down next to the kitchen doorway, feeling his eyes on her even though he was pretending to be interested in his book. "I didn't know you liked to read," she commented, unsure of where to go or what to do. It looked as if she wouldn't be leaving any time soon... unless Sasuke really wanted her to, of course.

"We have an entire library," he pointed out. Wow. Well, it _was_ a mansion. "Why don't you sit down? If you want, we could even go get something for you to read. This storm doesn't look like it's just going to blow over, so you might be here for a while."

Hinata insisted that she didn't want anything to read, and crossed to the room to sit on the armchair near the couch where he was. For a while everything was contented silence. The storm rushing over the humongous house, the fire in the hearth crackling, and every few minutes Sasuke turning a page in his book. Suddenly Hinata felt very at home, more comfortable than she had ever really been in the place where she actually lived. Sasuke's baggy clothes were comforting, the sounds were relaxing, and Hinata stared dazedly into the fire, feeling her eyelids get heavy.

After a while, she turned her head to look at Sasuke, and was surprised to discover that she had curled up into a ball with her head resting on one of the arms of the chair, though she didn't remember ever consciously lying down like that. Had she fallen asleep? If she had, Sasuke didn't seem to have noticed. She watched him for a while, still sleepy, not really looking at anything in particular; just watching as his eyes scanned the page, his brow furrowed in concentration, and each time he turned the paper. After a few minutes of this, he must have finally felt her eyes on him, because he suddenly turned his head and looked directly at her.

"Tired? You can take a nap." Was her staring bothering him? Without a word she turned back to look into the fire, and her eyes slid shut again. She made a face before she drifted off, hoping to god that she wouldn't snore.

Things were different when she woke. The relaxing atmosphere was gone. The storm outside was really raging now, and the fire had gone out. Sasuke had lit more lamps and was standing by the window, staring out into the downpour. Hinata's body felt all stiff and sore from lying in such a position for so long, and her hair was all grimy from where she hadn't properly been able to wash out all the mud.

She stood and stretched. Sasuke glanced at her. "How long was I asleep?" she asked.

"An hour or two," he replied. A flash of lightning lit up the room, and thunder boomed above them.

"I wonder if my family is even worried about me..." she wondered idly. Though she didn't really care. She walked over to the window to stand next to Sasuke, and it didn't feel strange at all being next to him. She remembered a time, not very long ago at all, when the two of them had been next to strangers. So much had happened in such a short time. So much had changed. Hinata had changed.

"Hinata, what you asked me earlier, if I could go back and stop what had happened to my family... I've been thinking about that."

"Yes?"

"I think... I needed this strength." He glanced at her again, and then back into the storm, but her eyes were intent on his face. Maybe she was being rude - staring again - but she had that strange just-woken up feeling, and her body wasn't quite functioning properly. "I wouldn't want my family to have died, but no matter what happened in the past, Itachi was... evil. I needed this strength, I still need it, so that I can surpass him."

Hinata nodded - she understood exactly what he meant. "And I needed strength like this to beat Hanabi. To earn my family's respect." Flash of lightning, thunder rolling, wind howling. "But you know," she said after a minute. "I don't think we needed those horrible experiences to get the strength we have. Maybe we had it all along, we just didn't know how to get to it. Those experiences... brought out the best and the worst in us. Or, that's the way it worked with me anyway." She couldn't meet his eyes, but he was looking at her now.

After a long moment of listening to the storm, Sasuke simply said, "I think you're right."


	6. Morning

_**Disclaimer: **__I do not own Naruto_

_**A/N: **__I know it's a bit rushed... but I really wanted the part from Sasuke's POV to be in there. What you think?_

* * *

Hinata was finally able to leave the next morning. It was only sprinkling by then. The storm had finally blown itself out sometime in the night. Sasuke had went to bed not long after their talk, offering her a room to sleep in - there were a ton of extra bedrooms in the mansion, it wasn't like he could use them all. She had declined, saying that the couch was fine, and he brought her a few pillows and blankets before he retired. She woke long before he did. The sun was just rising as she got up from her makeshift bed, but Sasuke was nowhere in sight. She waited for him for a little while, but figured he must still be pretty tired from the long mission, and then from training with Hinata in the woods the day before.

So, with a little smile, she grabbed up her now dried mud-caked clothes from near the kitchen door, and left, leaving behind a little not for Sasuke whenever he decided to wake up.

* * *

_**.:Inside Sasuke's Head:. **_

Sasuke had never been much of a drinker in his life. As mentioned before, he didn't really like sake, and on top of that it took _a lot_ to actually get him drunk, which took half the fun out of it anyway. Where was the point in consuming alcohol when you were physically unable to get absolutely smashed? And Sasuke had never really tested the limits of his ability not-to-become drunk, but after that particular three-week mission, he was quite determined. Shit-faced was what he desperately needed, and he needed it quickly.

There was nothing else on his mind but the previous mission. His first S-rank. And he had been overconfident. Sasuke took every mission seriously, sure enough, but it had been awhile since he'd done so much, so he figured that it would take a few days to get the hang of it.... But he'd caught on quicker than expected, and he'd been doing great. He'd started to think that there was nothing he couldn't do - this mission would pass without incident, and he'd go home practically a hero.

When he arrived at the family mansion - which was not at all similar to the Uchiha family mansion - things were eerily quiet. The family had already been questioned thoroughly on any thoughts of where Kazou Mochizuki might be, but after three weeks of tracking the man with his team, Sasuke was sure that Kazou had suddenly gone back to his family home. Sasuke had followed him there, and then wished he hadn't.

Kazou had been leaving as Sasuke was arriving, covered in blood and smiling like an idiot. They had fought. Sasuke lost. That was his just punishment for leaving his team behind - the overconfidence had made him think that he could handle Kazou on his own. When he came to, he was left to discover the horrors of what Kazou had done to his family on his own. He went back to his team, told them what had happened, and then like a coward he was too upset by what he had seen to continue on with the mission. The three of them had gone back home, and another team was sent out to deal with Kazou Mochizuki, while Sasuke went home and recovered.

Now Sasuke didn't think he'd ever be able to forgive himself for walking out on the mission like that. The disappointment in Tsunade's face had been so degrading, stripping him of flesh and bone and making him feel like a child, standing there in horror the day after his own family's death. He'd been standing before the Hokage that day too - the old man, who had looked down at Sasuke with pity rather than disappointment, but the feeling was the same.

There was a knock at the door - but who would be coming to see him? Who would want to see him at a time like that? His thought process hadn't been very optimistic at the time. He had felt like the lowest creature on the face of the planet - and why would anybody want to be shamed by looking down upon him? He was disgusted with himself for what he had done - walking out on his team, losing to Kazou and letting him get away, not catching him before he could carry out his terrible crimes....

It had been Hinata of course. Yes, Hinata Hyuga standing there on the front porch of the Uchiha mansion, smiling excitedly. Funny that there should be one person left in the world who would be so happy to see him. Maybe the smile was why he let her in, but now that he thought back on it he wasn't sure. Well, she'd managed to put him in his place... somehow. It was rather amusing, actually. He had smiled to himself while he was alone in the bath - she'd practically dragged his dead weight all the way to the bathroom. And was surprised that he could smile so easily, when just moments ago he'd been lost to madness and self-pity.

He was more himself whenever he was with Hinata again. She had sat and waited for him all that time, though he'd taken a pretty long while, thinking while he soaked. It was easier to go back to being his usual self, the way he'd been before he'd left, whenever he was around her. There was something about her prescience that just made him being himself seem so natural. He didn't have to work at not breaking down again, and he was actually kind of glad that she'd poured the sake down the sink because it had been the last bottle he had. No more temptation.

And suddenly standing there by the kitchen door, chatting with her, his shoulders began to itch. He'd been on the move constantly for three entire weeks, and for the past two days he'd been doing nothing but sitting around, drinking on and off. He wanted to get moving again, and he suggested that they go out and train again without really thinking about it. It was just a normal thing to do - that was what he and Hinata did, the whole reason why they were... what, friends now? Eh.

It had been amusing, and a little shocking, when laughter came as easily to him as a smile had. He'd been surprised to turn around and find Hanabi Hyuga standing there rather than Hinata, and then he had realized that something was a little off about her, and then that it really was Hinata, just with wet hair. He'd laughed at himself, and a little at her appearance, and then when she'd fallen into the mud, that had also been... amusing. He'd also been quite surprised at how strong she'd gotten since he'd left. For a few minutes he'd actually been _trying_ to hit her, and had failed at it. She had said that Sasuke was a better teacher than Neji "any day," but with the strength she'd gained since he'd left, Sasuke wondered otherwise.

They'd been walking home, and he'd been thinking. He asked, would she go back in time if she could? Stop those men from doing what they did?

Then Hinata had asked him, hesitating because obviously she wasn't sure if she should, if he would go back in time and change what had happened to his family. And at first an answer had been simple to produce - of course he would. He'd want his family to still be alive, to be a normal child, rather than a loner and a freak. But then again, Itachi would still be crazy, whether he'd gone through with killing the family or not. And even if he'd had the power to back then, would Sasuke have had the _heart_ to stop his brother - to kill him? As a child, he'd looked up to Itachi, because that's what younger brothers do with their older siblings, no matter the circumstance. And even now, he was... not exactly looking up to Itachi, but Sasuke was still setting his standards up with his brother's. He would become as strong as his brother, to prove himself to himself, and so that he could kill Itachi.

He thought a great deal on it while walking with Hinata through the rain back to the mansion, and had still been thinking about it when she went to clean up. But his mind had wandered back to her for a moment, pondering her new strength again, remembering the look of surprise on her face when she'd fallen into the mud - he'd chuckled at that - and then he'd realized that she didn't have anything clean to wear. So he went to get her some clean clothes, and it had seemed like a good idea at the time... until he reached the bathroom door. It had been unnecessarily awkward at that point. How was he supposed to get the things to her? Hand them over through the door? He'd knocked, still puzzling it out. Had she already undressed? And that made him blush, which was something he hadn't done in a while.

When he went back to the kitchen, Sasuke flipped on a light and sat down for a moment to sigh. Sometimes everything just caught up with him all at once, and he couldn't help but wonder what on earth had led him to this point in life. Then he heard the bathroom door slam quietly, and he smiled to himself. She must have gotten the clothes.

He'd been reading a book whenever Hinata reemerged from the bathroom. It was a common pastime of his, really. Sasuke liked to read; to strengthen the mind as well as the body. And living on his own Sasuke did get quite bored. He liked to read the most whenever it stormed, and it had certainly been storming outside then. Hinata had come into the room barefoot - should he have given her socks too? - and her hair had already been drying, still spotted with mud here and there. He wanted to laugh. Maybe he should have supplied her with a comb as well.

She looked embarrassed at his quiet examination of her, surprised to see him reading, and that it was storming, but for the most part she just looked comfortable. She sat in the armchair for a while, and it was easy to forget that she was there because the girl was just so quiet. Eventually he became interested in his book again, but after a while the feel of her eyes on him became too much. Surprised he hadn't noticed it sooner, he looked back at her, and she seemed on the very verge of sleep. She didn't respond at all whenever he asked if she was tired.

Again he was pulled out of his book whenever he heard a soft buzzing sound. It was quiet compared to the storm, no more than a whisper, but, being a ninja, Sasuke was easy alerted to such things. He laughed again then, when he realized that the buzzing sound was Hinata's light snoring. The girl was turning out to be very amusing on that particular day. Sasuke wasn't used to laughing so frequently.

After that he finally put down his book and went to the kitchen for some coffee. There was no way he could go back to reading after that. His attention had been diverted too many times.

And while the storm raged on, Sasuke found himself thinking again. Thinking of many strange things. Like about Itachi, and what would have happened if Sasuke's brother had been good, how their lives would be now if the Uchiha family were still alive. And Sasuke had been suddenly hit with how darkly tragic the whole situation was in comparison to what it _could have been_. Here he was, Mr. Avenger, determined to be the end of the Uchiha bloodline forever.

And Sasuke thought of Hinata too. What she would be like if those men had not... done what they had done to her. (An image flashed into his head of Hinata from that night when he'd found her, and he winced.) He thought of her in the living room then, curled up and sleeping in the chair so soundly. She was strong now, grown somehow. It was hard for him to remember what she had been like before. He'd never paid any attention to her, even when they'd had classes together. The only thing that he'd ever really noticed about her had been that she was a loner, she watched Naruto a lot, she was shy, and had ultimately decided that she was weak and not worth his attention.

Which is why it was still so surprising to him whenever he realized that the two of them were now sort of, kind of, maybe friends.... Or was that even the word for it? They usually weren't very friendly toward each other. Before his mission they had simply been like a teacher and student, master and apprentice. But for some reason or another, something had changed. It was more than just instructor and pupil now. He couldn't believe he had actually let her see _that_ side of him - the Sasuke Uchiha who was depressed deep down, the Sasuke who didn't care about revenge, he was just sick of his life and wanted to give up. The "weak" Sasuke Uchiha. But now he wasn't so sure what that word even meant anymore. His definition of "weak" had become a bit scrambled the day he had decided to help Hinata.

The Hyuga girl had gone from somebody he'd considered weak, to somebody he could hardly land a punch on. He could still hardly believe it.

He had lost track of time by the time she had awoken, and it was funny the way she grunted quietly and shifted around in her sleep just before she opened her eyes. He watched her for a minute, and then had gazed back out into the storm. After their little talk by the window, he'd offered a place for her to sleep but the girl insisted on the coach. He gave her a few blankets and pillows anyway and finally went to bed himself.

Sasuke's mind hadn't wanted to quit though. As tired as his body was, there were still so many things he couldn't get out of his head. But as he awoke the next morning, he couldn't even recall the damned thoughts that had kept him awake so long.

The storm had finally blown over sometime in the night. The sun was shining brilliantly, and he had to wonder what time it was. Sleepily he dressed, and went to the living room to wake up Hinata. On the way there, he glanced at the grand master clock in the hallway outside his bedroom door, and was shocked to see that it was nearly two in the afternoon. He couldn't remember ever having slept in so late before... in his life.

So he was not surprised to see that Hinata had already gone. The sun was streaming in through the windows where the night before a storm had been raging, and there was a bitter taste in Sasuke's mouth. He wanted more coffee. But then something caught his eye. On the couch where she had slept, Hinata had neatly folded the blankets she'd used, and on top of them there was a little note left for him in neat, scratchy writing:

_Thanks for everything. Don't do anything stupid._

_See you later! -Hinata_

Sasuke couldn't help smiling to himself. "_Don't do anything stupid," huh?_


	7. Naruto

_**Disclaimer: **__I don't own Naruto~_

_**A/N: **__taa-daaa! the seventh chapter. (seventh!) Man this is turning out to be a lot longer than I'd originally planned it to be o_O_

* * *

"No Hinata," Neji snapped, and Hinata could have just smacked him. Not a very tactical way to have a go at him - probably he'd just sidestep it - but still. Usually even on his finer days Neji was cold; today he was just plain cruel. "How many times have I already told you? That stance is not correct."

"I see what she's doing. Your arms are raised too high," her father chipped in from where he stood watching.

"That's what I keep _trying_ to tell you," Hinata said impatiently, rolling her eyes. The two of them kept trying to convince her that her stances were wrong, but she still managed to carry out everything they told her to do - perfectly after just one or two practice rounds. Still Neji and her father were both convinced that it was plain luck that had gotten her this far. "My arms are shorter than most people's," she explained. "They have to be higher, or else nothing I do will work."

For the first time since the training with him had began, Neji looked confused. With a small frown he examined her more closely, stepping up and then backing away to get a better look. "You're right of course," he said with a shrug, and after all the trouble they'd gone through over this issue, he wasn't even going to give her the satisfaction of a surprised look as he realized that she was right. Neji just didn't care, and that was his problem. Cold, emotionless Neji Hyuga. She kind of regretted comparing him with Sasuke now. At least Sasuke had a heart.

She grumbled as she got into position again, and her anger boiled for a moment, allowing her to more easily direct her chakra flow. In one smooth instant, she executed the move perfectly on the first try. Her father clapped from the sidelines, obviously impressed, but not in a way that satisfied her. He didn't praise her for her work anymore, he just acted as if it were nothing of any consequence, which only ruined it all for Hinata.

She wished she were training with Sasuke, or with her friends, instead of here with these two. Even when her family had finally somewhat accepted her, well, it didn't mean that Hinata actually had to like them, right?

By the way, three weeks had passed, and Hinata had finally started training with her team again. Of course, Kurenai, Shino, and Kiba were all happy enough to have her back, and none of them asked too many questions about why she had been away from them for so long. Hinata wondered idly if Kurenai had told them about what had happened to her, or maybe the other two had just come to accept that her heart wasn't really into being a ninja anymore. Perhaps they had even been glad to have her gone; to have poor, clumsy, weak little Hinata out of the way so that they could move on to more important things.

But she smirked when Kiba noted that he thought there was something different about her, and had had to hold back a little laughter as Shino started to "teach" her something. So, even if Kurenai had told them about what had happened, apparently not even she herself knew yet how strong Hinata had become. None of them knew.

And so, the look of absolute shock on their faces when she casually said, "You mean this Shino?" and followed through with the technique effortlessly, was really _very_ amusing.

Kiba whistled, impressed, and she was more glad for _his_ approval than she ever was for her father's anymore. "Hinata... man, you've gotten _strong_."

She laughed. "Yeah. Guess I should have told you. I've not exactly been slacking off, you know."

"Glad to see you've thrown away the blushes and the stutters," Shino said coolly, and he bowed his head to her, as if acknowledging a brand new person he had never met before, someone strong... an equal. Hinata felt blessed, and then her sensei punched her lightly on the arm and said, "Welcome back to the team, Hinata."

She had spent most of that day showing her teammates and her sensei what she could do, and was more than pleased to realize that she had surpassed them - well, she had her teammates at least - and that now _they_ would be the ones struggling to keep up with _her_. Quite amusing indeed.

On the other hand, she hadn't seen much of Sasuke in the past few weeks, but she knew that he was doing better. At least he wasn't doing anything _too _stupid. His nineteenth birthday had just passed though, and he and Naruto and a few of his other guy friends had gone out to celebrate late one evening.

The very next day Hinata had showed up at his house to wish him a happy birthday, and also to remind him through the daze of his hangover that she had specifically told him not to do anything stupid. Sasuke had just smiled though, and said, "You're right. Sorry about that." Apparently hangovers did not affect him the way they did most people. His head didn't hurt that she could tell, and he wasn't shying away from any particularly loud noises. Rather he was sitting at his kitchen table, looking a little rough for wear, with his eyes staring off into nothing. He seemed more out of it than he did hangover-ish.

That was about the extent of her meetings with Sasuke during those three weeks though, and Hinata had to admit she was really beginning to miss his company. Training with him was so effortless, easy, and sometimes... even fun. With her teammates it was different, because she hadn't been with them for a while and they just didn't connect on the same level. And as for her family, well... there simply was no connection.

"Perhaps we should stop for the day?" Neji suggested.

Hinata sighed, and lowered her arms gladly. She needed a good rest, perhaps a long nap. Between Neji and her father, they really liked to wear her down. As a matter of fact, her father was just opening his mouth to protest to this when suddenly they were interrupted. "I found him pacing around the woods in front of the house," Hanabi said as she entered the courtyard from the kitchen. "He was waiting for Hinata."

And just behind Hinata's kid sister was none other than Sasuke Uchiha himself. "Speak of the devil and he shall come," wasn't that how the saying goes? And she had just been thinking about him too.... This would be his second surprise visit the Hyuga household.

"Yes?" Hinata asked, perking up a bit again.

Sasuke grinned foolishly, as if he found something greatly amusing. But his voice was different, casual. "You look beat Hinata," he said, not looking at any of her family members who were standing 'round. "Maybe you should get some rest." There was a suspicious look there, though. She could just detect it. The humor lurking somewhere behind those guarded eyes.

"I guess," she replied, not really thinking about an actual conversation. "So was there something you needed or did you just happen by here out of chance?"

He looked at her slyly. "No, I was hoping we might talk."

Glancing around at her family members, she nodded. "Alright. Let's go." And Hinata left with him, leaving all three of the other Hyuga's behind, staring with mixtures of shock and surprise.

"Sorry if I interrupted your training back there," Sasuke said, not bothering to hide his grin now.

"No, actually you saved me from my father forcing anything else on me." She paused. "What are you so amused about?"

He laughed. They were in the woods now, jumping from tree to tree. Hinata didn't know where they were headed exactly, but she guessed it didn't matter. "Actually I'm supposed to talk to you."

"Talk to me?" she said in surprise. About what?

"Yeah. For Naruto. Actually he asked Sakura to do it, I just happened to overhear... and then I politely suggested to take the ugly matter off her hands."

Hinata laughed as well, but nervously. Naruto wanted someone to talk to her about something for him, and she had a very bad feeling about this. Somehow, she could just guess exactly where this particular conversation was going to go.

"You know he's in love with you right?"

Hinata gulped, hard. Suddenly Naruto's face filled her mind, and for a moment her cheeks flamed red and her voice stuck in her throat. _Shit._ There he was again, reversing all the good that Sasuke's influence had had upon her. There goes the independent, smart, strong Hinata right down the drain. Really, how was she supposed to respond to something like _that_? She had already feared it's coming, true, but that's why she had avoided it. Damn that Naruto Uzumaki. There was just that something about him that she'd never in her life be able to quite shake off. Damn him.

"You like him too right?" Sasuke asked, suddenly sly again. "You always have."

Hinata blushed even brighter, and mentally cursed herself for it. And rather than denying it, like she probably should have, she demanded, "How do you know that?" She was _just_ able to keep the stuttering at bay. She wanted to curse out loud.

Sasuke's lower lip puckered as if he were thinking about something unpleasant. "It's always been pretty obvious." He made a face. "So what, am I actually supposed to hook you two up now?"

"Oh no," Hinata complained. "Let's just stop for a minute and talk about this, okay?" So, they stopped, and Hinata found a dry place of grass to sit. The sunlight was breaking through the canopy of leaves above, and it felt good with the wind that was blowing. She sighed heavily. "I don't. like. Naruto." She spoke each word separately, as if putting more emphasis on this fact would make the situation easier to deal with. And then she made a face, just as Sasuke had. "Actually, right now I dislike him very much." She thought about it for a second. "Damn him."  
And Sasuke laughed. "I don't think I've ever heard you cuss before."

She grimaced as he crouched down on the ground across from her. "Well get used to it, because I'm about to do it some more." She paused, sure that he was waiting for her to say something else, but she just wasn't quite sure what. "I mean, I did like Naruto. Before...." she trailed off. Sasuke just watched, and she figured he got the picture. "But it's different now. I just want him to leave me alone. It's impossible to be friends with him, because..." she buried her face in her hands, mortified, "every time he's around I get all _embarrassed_ and start stuttering again. It's awful!"

Everything was quiet for a while, Hinata hiding her face and Sasuke saying not a word. But the wind and the sun felt good, and then a single leaf floated to the earth only to land perfectly on the top of Hinata's head. A little annoyed, she flicked it away, and she could only wonder at the look on Sasuke's face. The gears in his mind were turning visibly now, like he was thinking very hard about something. Casually he said, "You know, I don't really care about any of this. As far as I'm concerned, if you don't return Naruto's feelings then that's his problem, and if you stutter whenever he's around then that's your problem." Sasuke grinned suddenly, maliciously. "But still, I think I see a way that I can get Naruto out of your hair, and it'll be strictly beneficial to me." He chuckled darkly, and Hinata could only guess at the things he had in mind for poor Naruto.


	8. Incident

_**Disclaimer: **__I do not own Naruto~_

_**A/N: **__aha! I'm updating again!! *wild grin*_

_It's been a while since I've been in the mindset of this story, though. So, if anything seems a little... out of place, you'll have to forgive me. -_-'_

* * *

Deep breath. Heavy sigh.

What on earth was she doing?

Hinata didn't _want_ to talk to Naruto, she didn't even want to be anywhere _near_him. But here she was, walking the streets of Konoha, waiting for him to find her. She was hoping against odds that some miracle would happen and that, no matter how long she walked aimlessly around, Naruto wouldn't be in town that day and wouldn't see her. But it was a long chance, because Sakura had said that Naruto was in Konoha every day now looking for her. She'd run into the pink haired girl not long after she'd arrived. Happy, bubbly Sakura Haruno practically gushed, "You and Naruto would make such a cute couple!"

It made Hinata shudder just to think of it.

"You're looking for Naruto aren't you?" the girl had said. "Well, you shouldn't have any trouble finding him. He was just here a minute ago. He's probably at the ramen shop. Sasuke already talked to you for him, didn't he?" The onslaught of questions and lovey-dovey gushy remarks from Sakura was too much for Hinata to handle, and when finally she managed to get in a word of goodbye, she considered actually just turning around and going home. Sasuke would probably get angry with her if she did that though. Somehow he'd managed to convince her to go into Konoha that very instant, and face Naruto. He wanted her to face her fears and tell the boy herself that she didn't want him, but Hinata wasn't sure if she'd have the strength, or the heart, to do that. If it were up to her, she'd just spend the rest of her life avoiding Naruto.

Too bad that he knew where she lived. Ugh.

"Hey Hinata!" _Oh god._ There it was. That one voice she didn't want to hear - right behind her. Nervously, Hinata turned ever so slowly, until she was facing him directly. Honestly, she hadn't expected him to be so close - and he was grinning, too, making her blush all the way up to her hairline. Why did he think he had permission to stand so close to her like that? Couldn't he understand that she was trying to break away from him dammit?

"Actually I've been wanting to talk to you. I'm glad I finally found you!" _Oh no,_ she thought frantically. Was Naruto really, truthfully, and honestly going to _ask her out_?! He grabbed her by the hand, and quickly dragged Hinata to one side of the crowded street, apparently so that they could talk more privately. _Oh no, oh no, oh no._

He grinned anxiously then, running fingers through his messy blonde hair, and Hinata was frozen on the spot. She didn't want to be here. She didn't want to be near Naruto - she didn't want to be stupid, shy Hinata anymore. And for some reason, she had the strangest urge to run back to Sasuke and stay there forever - because around him, she was strong. The exact opposite of Naruto....

Said person suddenly materialized right behind her, an arm slammed angrily up against the wall, just above her head. She jumped in shock, and glanced at Sasuke to see that he was staring coldly at Naruto, as if he were suddenly really angry. The blonde guy was frowning back at him, obviously irritated by his rival's sudden appearance. "Oi, what the hell do you want?" Naruto demanded bluntly, crossing his arms.

Sasuke grabbed one of Hinata's elbows with his free hand, and pulled her close. "Getting you away from my girl," he said in a voice as cold as ice, and Hinata thought that she could have died of embarrassment. Sasuke hadn't filled her in on _this_ little part of the plan. Naruto's jaw had fallen open, and she thought that her facial expression must have been just as surprised, if not more so. "Sasuke..." she started, but it came out as a tiny whisper. Here, with Naruto on one side and Sasuke at the other, emotions were playing havoc with Hinata's mind. She wasn't quite sure which Hinata she should be - the old or the new.

Sasuke smirked suddenly at Naruto's blank expression. "You weren't thinking of asking her out were you?" he asked with a malicious grin, and Hinata found herself speechless. "Too late, _dobe_. Looks like you lost to me, again." With that, Sasuke slipped an arm around Hinata's shoulder, and led her swiftly away. She thought, it was the first time in a long time that she had blushed so deeply around him.

After a short moment, Hinata finally came to her senses, and pushed the raven haired boy away from her. "You didn't have to be so mean!" she exclaimed in a high-pitched voice. She still felt rather panicked by the whole situation. She just couldn't believe that Sasuke had actually snooped to that! Just to get one up on Naruto! "That was ridiculous," she muttered, still blushing.

He laughed, very lightly. "At least now he'll get off your back."

"...Actually, it'll probably just make him more determined." She groaned miserably. "You know he can't stand competition, especially when it comes to you. Oh why did you _do _that?" She slumped forward a little, hiding her face in her hands.

Suddenly, there was a loud ruckus going on somewhere in the street ahead of them. Hinata looked up in surprise to see that a rope on a wagon holding barrels together had snapped, and now all of its contents were rolling out into the road. Apparently it was due to some rough pushing, because there were two or three men arguing just on the other side of the wagon. The owner of said wagon was getting into it now. "Looks like we need to find a different route," Sasuke muttered, but they continued to watch the spat for a moment.

There was something... something wrong here. Hinata wasn't quite sure what it was. She took a step to the side, and squinted over at the fighting four. Two of the men had their backs toward her, and suddenly one of them turned to grab the wagon owner by the scruff of the neck. Hinata gasped loudly, her bones turning to mush in an instant.

With a tiny, horrified cry of... almost pain, she grabbed one of Sasuke's arms and hid behind him, her forehead resting heavily against his back as her entire body shook and she tried not to cry. "Wha-? Hinata, what the hell...?"

Things were really getting out of hand now. Some of the ninja of Konoha were beginning to get involved, but fighting wasn't stopping a bit. That silver haired man Kakashi was there, (Sasuke's sensei, she remembered), and so was Kurenai. "This is bad," Hinata heard Sasuke mutter. She knew that they should move, but she was frozen on the spot, her hands clenching each of his arms tightly. It was becoming hard to stifle the frightened sobs escaping her throat. "Hinata," Sasuke said suddenly, sounding somewhat annoyed, somewhat worried. He sighed heavily. "Let's get out of here." And he turned around, which forced her to let go of him. He would have left her standing there - somehow, Hinata was only barley able to follow on behind him. She didn't see that Kurenai and Kakashi both watched them go.

"What was that all about back there?" Sasuke demanded, a tiny vein throbbing on his forehead as they walked out of Konoha. Hinata wasn't sure where they were headed - she didn't care. "Hey," he called loudly, annoyed. Hinata's eyes were hidden behind her bangs - she didn't want him to see her face. She felt numb all over. She wasn't aware of her feet as they took step after step, walking with Sasuke, at his side. "If you're not going to talk to me, I'm going home."

"No," she cried softly, but she felt a great desperation at his words. Somewhere down the line, she had connected strength with Sasuke. Her strength came from him - he could protect her, if she needed it. She was strongest whenever he was around. "No, please." She looked him straight in the eye, not caring for the tears that trailed down her cheeks.

Sasuke cringed back the slightest bit. He didn't know how to deal with crying, probably. She didn't like being so weak around him, but at the moment, Hinata wasn't really thinking about that. "What _is_ it?" he demanded, but his voice was quiet. He really was concerned. How on earth had Hinata of all people managed to become close with Sasuke Uchiha?

"Those... the men fighting...." She trailed off, unable to say the words aloud, and swallowed back a rough sob that was too hard to suppress.

It took a moment, but then Sasuke took in a sudden, sharp breath as two and two clicked together. Two strangers -two strange _men_- in the village, and Hinata crying upon seeing them.... "Were those the guys...?" he demanded in disbelief.

Hinata looked up at him in wide-eyed surprise. The features of his face were all contorted in anger, and his cheeks were flaming red. He looked... so furious. "Yes," she whispered.

Sasuke turned on the spot, back toward Konoha, and Hinata thought, the only thing that held him back from going back into and killing those two men was the fact that she suddenly had reached out and grabbed his arm. "Don't go back there!" she cried. Sasuke could protect her. She felt safe with Sasuke. She knew that Sasuke was stronger than those two men, the two men that had raped her. Still - she connected Sasuke with "safe" and those men with "dangerous." The thought of the three of them facing off terrified her. She didn't want Sasuke near them.

He lowered his head, his eyes darkened. "Give me a reason why I shouldn't," he growled.

"Why...?" she started. "Why do you... I thought you said you wouldn't...." Hinata couldn't seem to get the words out right. Sasuke had trained her, so that she wouldn't have to be led by the hand back to safety. Why would he... get so angry?

"Those guys... don't deserve the right to live," he growled dangerously. "Don't you want revenge at all?"

Hinata was taken off guard by the question, and so she said the first thing that came to mind. "N-no! No, I just want to stay away from them. I don't want revenge, I don't want to be near them. Ever! And I don't want you to be near them either!"

Sasuke stared at her incredulously. Well, it wasn't surprising that he couldn't imagine her not wanting revenge for something so terrible. He _was_ Mr. Avenger, after all. But Hinata... she had never been like that. The fact that she had been so shy all her life made her naturally opposed to violence - even now that she was strong, and often became angry. She didn't want revenge. She was too afraid to want revenge. "Don't go near them..." she said.

But Sasuke was still frozen in place. His face was still darkened. The hand on his arm seemed to be the only thing holding him back. "L-let's go... to your house," she said quietly. She needed to get him away from thoughts of revenge - quickly.

Sasuke stayed absolutely still. After a few minutes, the red left his face, his anger seemed to melt, his rigid body relaxed, and he turned to her. Sasuke nodded. "Alright," was all he said. Hinata knew that he was still angry. They walked to the mansion in silence.

* * *

A week had passed since the incident in Konoha. Hinata had heard that those two men had been banned from ever entering the village again, but even now she was still a little afraid to leave home.

It was really the month for rainstorms. She had seen the dark clouds rolling threateningly in the sky, and suddenly the Hyuga house had become stuffy and too much for her to bear. Hinata had been spending too much time of her there since that day. So, afraid or not, she'd grabbed an umbrella and left for Konoha, before it started raining.

It was really coming down now though, and she watched from the protection of the little tea shop as the rainwater rolled off the roof in minuscule waterfalls. With a sigh, she picked up the umbrella from her lap, paid her tab, and decided to go home before it got any worse. It was surprising, the way the streets of Konoha cleared away once rain began to fall. There were a few people scattered here and there, some rushing for cover and others with umbrellas and raincoats brandished. Sasuke Uchiha was not one of those people.

He was standing there on the bridge, looking as though the rain had no effect on him at all, because of course he had too much pride for things that would protect him from something as trivial as rain. He seemed to be deep in thought as Hinata approached him, and it was a wonder that he didn't notice her there watching him after a moment. Usually Sasuke Uchiha instantly became aware of all those around him, didn't he? He must have become too used to her presence since they had started getting to know one another. His body must automatically register her as someone obviously non-threatening, someone he could trust, if he didn't even consciously notice whenever she was around now.

Hinata stood close to him so that the umbrella could cover them both, and he glanced over at her, startled. "You'll catch a cold if you keep standing there like that."

After a moment of surprise, he scoffed. "Uchihas don't get sick," he said, looking away from her again.

"Really?" she inquired. "That's odd. You look human to me." He didn't reply to that. "What are you doing here in the rain anyway?"

"...Thinking."

"About that mission?" she guessed, because she knew he still thought of it often - the mission he had caused his team to fail. Silence again. He didn't need to say anything for Hinata to know what was running through his mind, and she placed a hand lightly on his arm in the least comforting gesture she could manage. It was because she knew that Sasuke didn't like to be touched, and he especially didn't like for others to show him sympathy. He glanced at her again, and she removed her hand. She honestly didn't think that Sasuke would do anything, but she didn't want to make him angry. Still, automatic reaction made her want to hug him, or give him some kind of comfort... somehow. Hinata wondered how she was supposed to deal with someone like Sasuke who had been through so much. He was so silent, because of his pride, but she wondered - did he ever fall apart?

She still did. As strong as she had become, sometimes, Hinata still fell apart. Rainy days like this really brought that into focus, and standing there with Sasuke on the bridge like that - it was almost heart breaking.


	9. Interrogation

_**Disclaimer: **__I own nothing of Naruto. Neither do I own Hinata or Sasuke, although I wouldn't mind it._

* * *

It was one simple, beautiful day in town... when Hinata was finally and unexpectedly abducted. Yes, the rain had stopped finally - or at least, it was one of the rare days when nasty clouds didn't cover the entire sky. Ever since the day that Hinata had seen those two men in Konoha, she had been much more alert, especially whenever she herself was in the village. The only reason why she was taken so easily was because said abduction came from such an unanticipated source.

No, it was not the two men who had raped her, who took Hinata into their hands on this day. No - it was something much, much worse; a situation a great deal more terrible and dangerous.

Vengeful--Sasuke--Uchiha--fangirls.

Hinata had always known - or at least, suspected and feared - that one day it would happen. Ever since the very beginning of her association with Sasuke, Hinata had been wary of the Uchiha's fan club. Honestly, Hinata knew now that she was not the blame for such association being finally found out - it was Sasuke himself who had been the betrayer. Hinata had been careful enough, but one such as Sasuke could not just tell someone like Naruto that Hinata was "his girl," because Naruto was still close with Sakura, and the pink haired fright was damn near the _leader_ of the Sasuke Uchiha fan club.

Being bested by Sasuke again, it was only inevitable that Naruto would whine and complain about it. It was only inevitable that Sakura would hear of such... _blasphemy._ Only inevitable that word would spread, rumors would circulate, and all hell would break loose and crash over Hinata's pretty little head.

One would suppose that, under normal circumstances, a guy simply saying that he was dating a girl would not be such a big deal. However, it was a well-known fact that Sasuke Uchiha _did not date_. Therefore, Hinata was doomed the very moment those words to Naruto had escaped Sasuke's lips. Really, after such a thing as that, she should have seen this coming.

It was probably the most suspenseful experience that Hinata had ever been through in her life. (Not the most frightening, obviously, but truly the more suspenseful - because this time she did not know what her fate was to be, however certain she was that it would be something unpleasant). The thing about jealous women - they play nasty. Honestly, Hinata thought nothing of it whenever Sakura walked up to her so sweetly this day and asked that they go for a walk. True it was unusual behavior, but decidedly friendly - or so Hinata thought. Was it really so surprising that, once out amongst the familiar trees surrounding Konoha, Hinata and Sakura were ambushed by a bunch of Sasuke fangirls?

Once Sakura's faithful subordinates arrived, she turned on Hinata as well, and now the Hyuga girl was alone with a truly frightening feeling forming in her gut. Ino Yamanaka stepped up from the crowd to stand at the pink haired girl's side, and together they crossed their arms and glared in unison at Hinata. Hinata cringed away from those dangerous looks. Of all the girls gathered 'round - all of them surrounded by an aura of anger as they stared at Hinata hatefully - Sakura was the first to speak. She cleared her throat, and began to pace, eyes closed like she was thinking hard. "I'm sure you can guess what this is all about Hinata," she began. "I _thought_ you were a good girl.... But what kind of good girl would break Naruto-kun's heart like that?" Again with the female sneakiness - she was attacking Hinata's weak side, breaking down the most delicate walls first.

And Hinata fell for it. "I-I didn't...." She blushed brightly, and stared down at her feet. Yes, she had felt bad. Despite the fact that Naruto had been driving her insane, she did still have some feelings for him, no matter how much as she hated it. Hinata didn't approve of the way Sasuke had been so harsh with him. The last thing she had really wanted was to hurt Naruto's feelings - why did Sasuke think she had been avoiding the guy for so long? And right then and there Hinata came to the conclusion that this was _all_ the Uchiha's fault, dammit. She would have to have a few cross words with him later - if she ever made it out of this situation alive.

"I was _shocked_ when Naruto told me what happened," Sakura continued whenever Hinata could not seem to find a suitable excuse for Sasuke's actions. "I thought you were all for it. I mean, you've liked him forever right? He says you've changed lately - maybe I just wasn't paying attention."

"You _have_ changed lately," Ino noted, but she sounded more like she was commenting it to Sakura than actually speaking to _her_. "I've heard some funny things about you lately, Hinata. But even so, you should have known better than to get mixed up with _Sasuke_."

"Despite that," Sakura continued, the rhythm of the two girls' argument against her not breaking at all. "Even if you have changed, Hinata, it's still so hard to believe that Sasuke Uchiha would chose _you_. Even if you have stopped being shy, and even if you have gotten stronger - as far as I know, you've had no affiliation with Sasuke at all throughout your life. Right?"

Both of the girls turned their red-eyed stares on her again, glaring at her for an answer. "R-right," she choked out quietly.

"So, you can imagine that I didn't believe Naruto when he told me that _Sasuke_ was _dating _you now." She spat the words, hissing them through her teeth, infuriated. "However, I also know that despite his being an idiot, Naruto would never lie about something like that to me. Because he'd know exactly what I would do to you, and he likes you too much to cause you such troubles without a good cause."

"Yes, Naruto is a little angry with you," Ino said then, as if she could read Hinata's mind. Hinata was a little stunned at the thought. She'd never meant... for Naruto to hate her. Maybe leave her alone for a while, but not _hate_ her. Ino said that he was only "a little" angry, but the tone of her voice had made it clear that that was an understatement. Maybe she was just messing with Hinata again - still trying to break her down.

"So, Hinata," Sakura said abruptly, stopping in her tracks. "I believe you have some explanations for us, right?"

For a few minutes, Hinata was speechless. How could she possibly explain it? For a second, she even considered telling them the truth - the _whole_ truth, about her connections with Sasuke. Almost as soon as the thought crossed her mind, she dismissed it of course. These girls had no business in Hinata's secrets. Actually, they had no business in her life at all - they couldn't stop her from being around the people she really wanted to. In fact, if Hinata were not surrounded by so many of them at the time, and if she did not feel like such a bad person for what she had done to Naruto, she probably would have been really angry. She wished she were strong enough to defend herself now. Finally, she found her voice. "S-Sasuke..." She paused for a minute, and decided that the girls around her would see it as far too familiar if she said his name without an honorific. "Sasuke-kun... I don't really know.... He said he just wanted t-to help b-because I didn't want to go out with Naruto." Even as she spoke the words, there was a bitter taste in her mouth. Hinata knew that after this, she would have to seek Naruto out, explain everything to him, and apologize - several times, probably.

Sakura's eyes tightened the slightest bit at the corners. "Why would Sasuke help you?" she demanded bluntly. Oh, where had that friendly and innocent girlish facade gone? Women were devious creatures - Hinata knew this even as she herself was a woman; probably even more so _because_ she herself was a woman.

"S-Sasuke...kun... said that he wanted to... show Naruto up again. H-he didn't want Naruto to... have something that he didn't. N-no wait, t-that didn't sound right.... Sasuke..._kun_..." (she kept forgetting that damn honorific) "...apologized to me, b-because I really didn't ask him to say those things to Naruto. I feel awful about it."  
Sakura and Ino shared a long look, as if they could read one another's minds somehow, and then turned back to her. "So it's not true then? There's really _nothing_ going on between you and Sasuke?"

"Y-yes...." Well, close enough. At least, there was nothing _romantically_ involved going on between her and Sasuke.

Sakura and Ino abruptly stepped away from her to conference with some of the other girls. Even huddled up in a tight group together, they spoke loudly enough for Hinata to hear every word they were saying. "Do you think it's true?" one girl inquired. It was difficult to pick out the voices and decide who was saying what exactly.

"Well, Naruto _is_ an idiot," another one said. "Sasuke _would _want him to think that he was losing to him - again." There was a clear smirk in her voice, making it obvious that the girl thought Sasuke better than Naruto in every way.

"Yeah but do you really think that Sasuke would go to such extremes?" a more serious voice asked. "Why would he just up and say that he was _dating Hinata_? I mean, she's just so shy.... And Sasuke's never said _anything_ like that to _anybody _before."

"Maybe it's _because_ she's shy. Hinata probably doesn't get on his nerves as much as we do." _So they actually do realize that they bother him,_ Hinata thought, a bit incredulously. "Besides, maybe Sasuke doesn't want to think that there's anything he can't have. Hinata's _always_ liked Naruto - it could have hurt his pride. You know how men are about their pride." There were several short murmurs of agreement at that.

The little knot of girls broke unexpectedly, and all of them turned to face Hinata full force. "Very well," one girl whom Hinata had never met before said in a business-like voice. "We'll believe your story for now. You're off the hook for now, but we'll be watching you."

"What should her punishment be?" one girl asked from the back. Hinata felt her entire body freeze at that. Punishment?

Many girl's faces took on thoughtful expressions. "Hmm..." the business-like girl spoke up again. "Never speak to Sasuke again," she sentenced. "As long as you can help it, don't even make eye contact with him. Is this punishment agreeable?" The girls around her began to nod, some of them after thinking about it for a moment. "Good. Then we'll be seeing you around, Hinata Hyuga." Several of the girls took off at once, and they all began to leave her as quickly as they had come.

Sakura and Ino lingered just a bit, smiling happily all the sudden. "Bye Hinata! See you around!" They waved and smiled and took off as well, leaving Hinata feeling very confused and somehow very weak and violated.

* * *

Hinata let herself into the Uchiha mansion, and to say that she did it quite hastily would have been an understatement. She slammed the door behind her, and slumped against it heavily, breathing hard and trying to catch her breath. Sasuke Uchiha himself had just been crossing the living room, and he stared at her somewhat incredulously now. "This is unusual," he remarked. "You normally knock."

"Do you have any idea how difficult it was for me to get here?" she demanded, but couldn't quite force herself to glare at him. She supposed that it really wasn't _his_ fault if he had a group of madly obsessed girls on him all the time. "My watchers are going to realize any minute now that I shook them off. Dammit! They're going to come straight here looking for me. Do you have a place with no windows available? Maybe a panic room?"

Sasuke smiled slightly, as if he couldn't hold it back, but he looked confused. "What's going on?" he asked.

Hinata groaned heavily and sank to the floor. "Stupid Sasuke," she complained lightly. "Your little fan club decided to ambush me this morning."

"...Oh."

"Yeah. 'Oh.'" Hinata glanced over at the windows then, worry gnawing at her. "I really do think I should move."

Sasuke laughed lightly. "Come on." The raven haired boy led her deeper into the mansion. Hinata had never gone past the kitchen (except for the bathroom) before, so it was all new to her. They trailed a confusing course through hallways and a few flights of stairs, turning corners until Hinata forgot which way they would have to take in order to get back to the living room. Finally, Sasuke opened up one of the closed doors, and flipped on a light switch as he went inside. Hinata followed somewhat hesitantly, glancing around the room.

It was a very cozy sort of place. The bed was unmade, the covers mussed, and there was a sheet hanging from the single window in place for a curtain. Sasuke, being who he was, would make anyone think that he was one of those guys who liked to be neat and at least somewhat orderly, but there were clothes and various things like manga scattered about the floor. "I-is this your bedroom?" Hinata demanded.

Sasuke glanced at her and shrugged. "Yeah."

A loud exclamation escaped Hinata's throat, and she blushed brightly, covering her face with her hands. True enough, she had gotten used to being around Sasuke, and she was content being near him, she had even gotten to know a lot about him - but Hinata was nowhere near comfortable enough with him to be in his _bedroom_ of all places.

Sasuke seemed to ignore her obvious embarrassment. "Sorry. It's a mess."

"Why... on earth are we in here?" she asked, feeling hairs sticking out of place on her head. This was... somewhat stressful. She'd hate the think how the fangirls would react if they ever found out she had been in Sasuke's _room_.

He shrugged again. "It's safe enough. And I... kind of feel like being lazy today." As if to prove it, he settled himself comfortably on the bed, sitting with his back against the wall and legs crossed. Hinata had never seen him... so at ease. She wondered how many other people saw him like this. His half stretched position said that he was completely comfortable around her now, and Hinata didn't quite understand that. She hadn't done anything so great for him. Actually, she'd probably caused him a lot of trouble.

So, still blushing the tiniest bit, she sighed, and sat down at the end of the bed. She just couldn't believe she was in Sasuke Uchiha's bedroom, _on _his bed. The thoughts made her face flare up again. After a minute she said, "I'll have to apologize to Naruto. You were really mean to him the other day."

Sasuke shrugged. "If I was nice his head would explode. Naruto and I are natural enemies."

"Really...?" she inquired. In all her years of watching Naruto, Sasuke had often been in the picture too. It had been difficult to avoid watching him as well as Naruto, because he had always seemed to be around. True, the two boys fought often, sometimes brutally, but Hinata had thought.... "I thought you might be friends. Somehow." She trailed off a little, not wanting to make him mad if she was completely wrong.

Sasuke was quiet. He stared at the ceiling, arms crossed leisurely behind his head on the headboard. He seemed to be thinking about it. "I don't know," he said finally. "We're... a lot alike. Much as I hate to admit it." He scowled lightly, a small vein throbbing on his forehead. "Naruto's annoying as hell, but he's got some good qualities. I guess."

Hinata stared at him in half-wonder. She couldn't remember Sasuke ever really talking to her like this. She wondered why... he just suddenly seemed so _relaxed_ around her. He noticed her looking then though, so she turned away quickly. "Don't you think you two could get along if you tried?"

Sasuke scoffed quietly. "Probably. But we have too much fun fighting." She heard the smile in his voice, and turned to see him grinning. Hinata couldn't hold down a tiny smile of her own. Well, boys will be boys.


	10. Troubles

_**Disclaimer: **No ownage._

* * *

Sasuke had always been a logical thinking kind of guy. Being who he was, based on certain tragic and sometimes life-threatening past experiences, revenge and anger were about the limit of his emotional scale. Distancing himself from other people had been taken on as a natural instinct for him. There were very few human beings for whom it could be said that Sasuke Uchiha was very close to. Whether in terms of friendship or rivalry, Naruto Uzumaki happened to be one of those few. And, Sasuke supposed, he might as well add Sakura and Kakashi-sensei into that category as well. After all, they _were_ his teammates - he trusted them with his life on a near daily basis. Still, it had been necessary to become close to those certain individuals - he'd been forced into a group with them, baring with it for the sake of becoming a stronger ninja so that he could kill his brother, avenge his family, blahblahblah.... So, his bonds with his sensei and teammates had been sort of gradual in forming. Sasuke had thought that, as far as people went, only they would really be a small included part of his life. And so now he found himself wondering, where the hell did Hinata Hyuga fit into this picture?

Sasuke was... strangely comfortable with Hinata. He was at ease whenever she was around. He found himself smiling more and scowling less, bitter thoughts of anger and revenge receding into the deepest corners of his mind. The nightmarish memory of the night he'd discovered her in the woods no longer haunted him at night, and yet the Hyuga girl still plagued his dreams. The way her soft dark eyelashes perfectly encircled those pale eyes, the way her brow creased the bridge of her nose whenever she was deep in thought, the faintest brush of pink that touched her cheeks every so often (because she did not blush much around Sasuke anymore), and the almost child-like smile that curved her lips.... Sasuke's mind seemed determined to cram every detail of Hinata into his memory storage for later picking. Sasuke didn't really understand it, but he supposed... it wasn't such a big deal. He didn't mind thinking of Hinata. The way she had looked in wearing his clothes (which had been baggy, on her) that stormy day as she slept in the armchair of the living room, or the way that she had rather curtly picked him up off his ass when he'd been so determined to roll around in his misery.

For one whom he'd always seen as weak, Hinata was surprisingly strong. With everything she'd been through she still found pleasure to smile, and time to enjoy simpler things that Sasuke himself wouldn't even think about. He had to admire her.

Could Sasuke Uchiha, of all people, actually be developing a crush? It was strange to have the tables turned. He supposed that such a thing was not impossible... though he'd led most of his life as a cold, asexual, half-sexist bastard. (Really, with all the squealing annoying fangirls chasing him about everywhere, who could blame him for being a little misogynist?) He wondered idly if Hinata were having the same sort of feelings about him at all, and for a short while, he even toyed with the idea of just asking her. And then Sasuke realized that such things were not as simple as they might appear.

* * *

Hinata had honestly, really thought that since being found out by the fangirls, she'd never be able to spend so much time with Sasuke again. What with the fangirls, and now even her suspecting family, she felt as if she were being promptly shooed away from him. It was really no surprise that the rest of the Hyugas were all suspicious of her affiliation with Sasuke Uchiha. After all, he'd already stopped by their complex, what - two, or three times? Always to speak to _her_. And she already knew what her _father_ thought. He seemed convinced that there was something going on between she and Sasuke - and the man didn't know how to fell about it, obviously. Was it good for the heiress of the Hyuga clan to be dating the last remaining - respectable - member of the Uchiha clan?

One day, though frightened, Hinata steeled herself into going over to Sasuke's house - whether the fangirls had anything to say about it or not. However, the moment she was in town, Sakura - head of the Sasuke Uchiha crazed-and-obsessive girls herself - walked right up to her and grabbed her by the arm. "Hinata-chan!" she exclaimed happily, interlocking their arms together. "It seems like it's been forever since we've really spent time together! C'mon, we'll have a girls days." She laughed happily, and with that, Hinata was swept in the opposite direction of the Uchiha place.

It was like that from that point on every time Hinata went into town. No Uchiha fangirl was going to allow her anywhere _near_ Sasuke now. Not since she'd ditched them to go to his place that time before. Whenever Hinata was in Konoha, there was always one or another at her side - pulling her along, deceptively leading her away from anywhere she really wanted to go. And then one day Hinata spotted Naruto. The blonde boy was sitting in front of the ramen shop, looking forlorn, and though she remembered very well how frustrating it was to be around him, her heart wrenched. She turned to her clever captor - which on that day, happened to be Sakura.

"Sakura-chan?" she asked quietly.

The pink haired girl blinked at her, following her eyes to where Naruto was sitting. "Yes?"  
"Will you let me have a moment alone with Naruto-kun if I promise to stay where you can see us?" Really - what was the point in pretending that Sakura was _not _trying to keep her away from Sasuke? The girl was watching her for that exact purpose, and they both knew it.

Sakura laughed at that. "I guess the jig is up, huh?" she said happily. "Yeah, that's fine. As long as you stay in sight."

Wide-eyed, Naruto jumped to his feet when he saw Hinata walking his way. "H-Hinata..." he started to say.

She blushed brightly. Damn - there it was again. Her shyness. But she would steel herself. Hinata _would_ get through this, and apologize to him. She _would_ tell Naruto her thoughts. She would tell him exactly how she felt - the truth. "Naruto-kun? Can we talk?" She hated the way her voice came out so quietly, and the way her eyes stayed downcast to the ground.

"Yeah," he replied softly. "Sure."

They stood there awkwardly for a moment. Hinata's eyes scanned the crowd discreetly. She'd promised to stay in sight, but where had Sakura gone? If she and Naruto walked while they spoke, surely Sakura would follow, wouldn't she?

For once, Naruto seemed to understand her discomfort, and he touched her lightly on the arm so that she would look up at him. He was smiling a bit, lopsidedly, and somewhat sadly. "C'mon, let's get ramen. My treat."

A date? She blushed again. "Did you just have ramen?" she asked, trying to sidestep his offer. Why else would he have been sitting in front of Ichiraku's like that?

"Yeah, but y'know... I can never get enough." He grinned, and pulled her inside with him. Date or not, it looked like she wasn't going to get much say in this. They sat at the bar and the man - Ichiraku - took their orders. While they waited for their food, Naruto frowned out at the crowded streets of the village. "Sasuke won't come in here and snatch you away, if he sees you with me, will he?"

Hinata shifted uncomfortably. She had hoped somehow that it would take longer to get to this part. "N-no," she replied with an uneasy sigh. She couldn't meet Naruto's eyes again - they were too blue, too deep and knowing. They had never lost their effect on her. "Naruto-kun I have to tell you... S-Sasuke and I aren't dating. He was just... lying. I'm sorry."

Naruto blinked at her in surprise. "Why would he lie about something like that?"

"Ano...." Hinata's mind completely blanked on her. Honestly, she hadn't even given a _thought_ as to how she was going to really explain this to him. Of course Naruto would ask _why_. And what was Hinata supposed to say? _Sasuke was lying for me so that I wouldn't have to go out with you...?_ What would be the point in apologizing at all, then? She'd only be making the situation worse.

"You're friends with Sasuke now... huh?"

Surprised, Hinata turned to face him, and Naruto was looking at her with those blue eyes of his again. As if he could see all her secrets.

He smiled slightly. "You don't want to go out with me. So Sasuke lied so that you wouldn't have to give me an answer. Right?"

Embarrassed, and somewhat mortified even, Hinata made a small sound in the back of her throat and hid her burning face in her hands. "I'm sorry," she whined.

He surprised her then - again - by laughing. Hinata peeked out from between her fingers, and their bowels of ramen were sat before them. Naruto immediately picked up his chopsticks and took a bite, slurping the noodles up. "It's alright Hinata," he said after a minute. "If you didn't want to date me, you could have just said so." He grinned over at her, and pointed a thumb at his own chest. "This is the guy who's gotten used to rejection time and time again over the years."

"Th-that sounds even worse..." she said quietly, placing her hands in her lap and staring down at her own bowel of food. She didn't have much of an appetite at the moment.

"Don't worry about it. But hey...." He touched her arm again, and she glanced unwillingly at his face. "We can at least still be friends right? I know you're kinda uncomfortable around me and stuff, and I won't feel bad if you feel like you need to avoid me sometimes. But I'd still like to think that one day we can hang out and it won't be weird."

And how could Hinata possibly say no to that? Naruto saw much more than he ever let on, it seemed. "Of course, Naruto-kun," she replied quietly. "I'd like that too."

* * *

As mentioned before, meeting with Sasuke, or ever being around him again, was going to be a problem - if not completely impossible. At her father's apparent insistence, Neji was pressing Hinata harder than ever now, training and sparring with her everyday until she was exhausted. Sometimes Hanabi even joined them, and it was a fight between the three of them, each trying to gain the advantage for themselves. Those days were the most exciting - as well as the most tiring. Hinata was getting sick of all this. When would she ever have time for any kind of leisure again? And every time she _did_ manage to get away from her family, she found herself only ever stuck in Konoha, being followed around and closely watched by one of the Sasuke fangirls.

Every now and then, Hinata simply went out into the trees outside of town, and allowed herself some time on her own. It was nice to just sit and relax and have nothing to do with the world. It was one of these days, sitting there at the base of a tall, thick tree, that she found her mind wandering to Sasuke again. Really, he was a mystery. She remembered the way he'd been before - that first time at his mansion, sitting quietly with him in the kitchen. He'd been so cold back then. Then when he'd first started teaching with her - how they'd been distanced, but gradually became more comfortable around each other. Then when he'd come back from that mission... he'd been so distraught. The night of the rainstorm. How calm and serious he'd been - their first true deep conversation. And then the last time she'd been with him - in his room, while he looked so peaceful and relaxed in her presence.

How had they managed to become like this? Before, Sasuke Uchiha hadn't even been a part of her life at all. And yet, he'd been so determined to settle revenge for her - to kill those two men, the day they'd seen them in town. Hinata still didn't understand why he'd been so angry. Yes, what those men had done to her... had been awful. But Sasuke Uchiha distanced himself from people, didn't he? He let other's problems be their own. Why did he so want to involve himself in Hinata's life? She just didn't understand.

Suddenly a loud, strangled sound interrupted the quiet of the forest, and it scared her. Hinata's mind raced back to that night - the night those men had grabbed her, and she quickly scrambled up into the branches of the tree. She trembled slightly, as her eyes searched around her for what the sound could have been. How stupid was she to allow herself to be out alone in the woods again? Those men _had_ been banished from Konoha, but that didn't mean they couldn't still be somewhere nearby. If she saw them again, would she be strong enough to take them on? Or would she fall apart, like she had when she'd seen them in town?

The sound again - it made her jump, but this time, she recognized it as a half scream. Someone was in trouble. But she was still afraid.... Should Hinata leave the seclusion and safety of the tree to see what it was? Maybe she should just turn around and go back to Konoha....

Reluctantly, legs shaking beneath her, Hinata jumped from one tree to the other, moving slowly, but not toward the village. She jumped again, and cringed at the sound of another short scream. She followed it nervously. What would she see once she actually got there? This was stupid. She knew it was stupid. But she was a ninja of Konoha - if it was one of the villagers in trouble, she should be able to help them. Hinata touched her Leaf Village headband for reassurance, took a deep breath, and jumped again.

What she saw next was truly a horrifying scene. It was Sasuke. Sasuke, he was....

* * *


	11. Protect

_**Disclaimer: **I own nothing of Naruto =)_

* * *

So this was what it was like to dote on somebody - to want to protect them at all costs. Even after the battle with Zabuza and Haku, when Sasuke had nearly died in the place of Naruto, he had never quite understood. The impulse of holding something dear... it was foreign soil to him, and yet the will to protect flared violently in his very bones. When he thought of the faces of those two men they'd seen in town, when he remembered Hinata's tears as she pressed her face to his back and gripped his arms in fear... Sasuke saw only a world of red. Red-hot anger burned up his throat, making hands shake with its intensity. When Hinata had told him who those men had been, he'd been so angry he could hardly stand it.

But Hinata had held him back, with the desperation in her voice and the hand on his sleeve. As strong as she had become, she was still so like a child. Fragile, somehow - in ways that Sasuke could understand all too well. And so for her sake, as much as it had disgusted him to do it, he had stayed at her side and done nothing. Sasuke had not gone back into town that day. He had not sought those men out. And so they went away unpunished for the things they had done - and they had been banished from the Leaf Village, so that now there was no chance of Sasuke or Hinata ever running into them again.

In his mind's eye, Sasuke could still see Hinata's terror stricken expression from that night. It was something he'd come to memorize, a sight he could summon up with great detail every time he even thought of it - the ragged clothes, torn away, her small body shaking, the way she couldn't seem to even stand on her own two legs.

And so, somehow Sasuke Uchiha had managed to fall for the most unimaginable girl. He'd never once thought that he could fall - in any kind of context. What _was_ it about Hinata that drew him to her so? That gave him this weird peace? He wondered if she had any idea at all about how he felt. She was innocent in a way that made her kind of ignorant, (not that she was stupid at all). Would she have ever even imagined Sasuke as a possibility at all? As a subject of....

He would not say "love." It was a concept even more foreign to him than the will to protect. Was it... _love_ he felt for her? He wanted to scoff at the very thought. _Love_. Ugh. "Love" was what those annoying fangirls pushed upon him. "Love" was the type of intense hate and friendship that Naruto shoved in his face all the time. Whatever it was Sasuke felt for Hinata, he didn't - couldn't, and _wouldn't_ - think of it as _love_.

Then something unexpected happened. Something wonderful and sickening at the same time.

It had been a while since Sasuke had seen Hinata - probably thanks to his fucking fan club. Each day that went by became... increasingly irritating without her around. Sasuke was only even more bitter with anyone else that came into contact with him. He fought much more frequently with Naruto than he had in a long while, and even made Sakura cry a few times - which, he had to admit, was not so unsatisfying, considering that it was probably _her_ fault that Hinata wasn't ever around anymore. Had Sakura and the others threatened her?

Honestly, Sasuke had been considering just going over to the Hyuga complex again, and asking to see her. It was frustrating that her presence was not there to calm him. He had too many unpleasant things on his mind, and no one he talked to ever made it any better, because none of them understood, or cared. Somehow Hinata had become someone whom Sasuke had allowed past those walls. She'd seen him broken down in a way that no one else even knew existed....

Sasuke'd just gotten into an explosive argument with his entire team - Sakura, Naruto, _and_ Kakashi. Angrily, he'd stormed out of Konoha, and went for a walk to clear his head a little, sighing in the quiet of the woods. He walked until he lost himself, and then he'd heard voices....

Those guys were not supposed to be anywhere _near_ Konoha, he'd thought. He was already in a bad mood... and they'd once hurt the person whom Sasuke really cared about. So, upon seeing their ugly faces, how could anyone possibly expect Sasuke to pass up a chance like that? They were sitting there, drinking by the river, laughing raucously. They disgusted him.

Sasuke grinned one tiny bit before making his presence known. It was a moment before the two men realized he was there, but finally, they turned to him, looking on him with serious eyes. They were just ordinary guys - one of them skinny, and the other somewhat large in the middle, both of them muscular in the arms. They were just two men that you'd expect to find anywhere, but they had dishonest faces.

"Whatchu want boy?" the bigger man demanded bluntly.

They put on a tough act, with hardened eyes, but the two were being wary of him. It was because of _his _eyes probably - Sasuke could feel the sharingan burning dangerously. He didn't reply.

"You jus' gonna stand there?" the skinny one asked. They both had a drunken slur. They were obviously overly intoxicated. "If i's a drink you want, si'down and have a swig."

"I'm not interested in alcohol," he declined. So... how should this be done? Slowly, of course, and he should keep them guessing. In the time they had left, Sasuke would have to be careful not to let them know what he was going to do next, at all times.

Despite their muscles, the two men looked weak. Obviously they weren't trained ninja, and would never stand even a hair's chance against Sasuke in a fight. Did that make him cruel? No. They were the cruel ones. They deserved this punishment. The two men were weak - but they had been strong enough to hold down and take advantage of a defenseless girl.

It did not take long. Sasuke moved with speed and precision. He thought, he would not be more determined, for anything short of facing Itachi. He started by simply cutting them, with a kunai. Just lightly and quickly enough to surprise them, and cause them stinging pains and a lot of blood, but no more. He used their confusion to his advantage - their inability to follow his movements with their eyes. Next he went for breaking limbs. As he had done during Chunin exams - not that he was _about_ to let the Orochimaru curse seal loose - he took one of them by his arms, and twisted them back until both shoulders dislocated. The other man watched in horror.

Things were going quite well, he thought. The two were on the groung before him, broken and beaten as Hinata had been the night they'd done those terrible things to her. And to make them even more pathetic, they were crying now. Harsh sobs shook their bodies as they pleaded for Sasuke not to kill them.

Saying nothing, Sasuke stared coldly down at the two of them, and brought out one of his kunai again, prepared to finish them off. As much pain as he'd already inflicted, somehow Sasuke still felt as if he'd done it all much too quickly. Maybe he was just rushing in anger - hurrying to get it over with.

The skinny man bowed his head in defeat, while the other watched with wide eyes as Sasuke raised the weapon to face-level. He was just about to bring it down when....

"_STOP!_"

* * *

Hinata was there. She was standing between he and the two he would kill. It confused him for a minute, but mostly, he was surprised. "What are you _doing_?" she demanded of him.

What...? Couldn't she _see _what he was doing? Did she really expect any less of him? "Hinata..." he started. Sasuke put his hands on her shoulders, prepared to move her out of the way. He could still feel the sharingan spinning wildly. His enemies were just behind her... if he could just get around her outstretched arms to them.... It shouldn't be too difficult.

"Sasuke...?" Somewhere in the back of his mind, he _did_ register that she was staring up at him, with desperate eyes. But he couldn't focus - not on her, anyway. He was too busy watching those two rugged men. The two of them seemed shocked, but also elated. Their death was being postponed, and they knew it.

It disgusted Sasuke even more. He growled lightly under his breath, glaring the two of them down. Frightened, they began to crawl away, and Sasuke took a step forward, pushing against Hinata's light efforts to restrain him. "Sasuke?" she said again, and this time her voice was heavy with tears she had not yet shed.

The two men were getting away! Why was she...? How could she just let them go? Did she actually feel _compassion_ for those guys? They'd done such terrible things to things to her.... Even as the thoughts raced through Sasuke's mind, he knew that he was being a little irrational. Sometimes, that happened when he was really angry. Because not even Sasuke Uchiha could _always _keep a cool head.

"Sasuke.... Sasuke...!"

He took another step forward. His feet wanted to rush, because those guys were going to be out of sight soon at this rate. (Not that it wouldn't be easy enough to catch up with them, but still....)

"_Look _at me!" Hinata cried shrilly, and, startled, he _did _look down at her. And he really _saw_ her.

It was not something that Sasuke could understand. She was crying - hard, and he didn't really know why. Her arms were still for the most part outstretched, but her shaking hands kept pushing at his shoulders and chest, trying to hold him back. "Why are you defending them?" he asked bluntly.

The breath seemed to leave Hinata's lungs, and when she replied, her voice came out in a breathy whisper. "Why would you _do_ something like this Sasuke?"

"What do you mean?" he demanded, half-incredulous. He'd been angry, and he'd almost wanted to yell at her. It wasn't until then, when Sasuke _failed_ to be particularly harsh with her, that he realized just _exactly_ how far he'd fallen. What a disgraceful Uchiha - falling in love with a girl like that. He had more important things to do - perverted snake guys to kill, families to avenge, stuff like that. He wasn't _noble _enough (ha. ha.) and he didn't have the _right_ _to _put Hinata first. And yet....

"You wouldn't do anything, so I had to do it myself," he retorted, but most of the aggression had already left him. Now that he was actually paying _attention_ to Hinata, he couldn't seem to pull his mind away from her again.

"_They_ are the cruel ones, not you!" she exclaimed, and brought her hands up to lightly smack him on his chest. It seemed like... there was something she was trying to make him understand, and Sasuke just couldn't get it.

"I don't understand you," he said simply.

Hinata shut her eyes tight in frustration. She seemed... very sad. Sasuke could hear the sounds of those men getting away. For two severely injured people, they could crawl _fast_. "I... I told you I didn't want revenge," she cried quietly, head bowed.

"I wanted revenge for you," he replied.

"You're not allowed to do that!"

She was crying hard again, covering her face with her hands like she sometimes did whenever she was upset. Sasuke was frustrated, and confused, and a little angry. Why didn't she want revenge? Didn't she have hard feelings toward those men at all? Could she so easily forgive them for hurting her so badly? Sasuke didn't understand... but then, maybe he didn't have to. Hinata was upset again. It was his fault. That was a serious offense, he thought.

"If I say I'm sorry, will you explain it to me?" he asked.

"...Y-you don't have to apologize," she cried quietly. "It-it just scared me. I... don't want you near them, and... you were being so...."

Her words stung at Sasuke's chest like long, pointy needles. He had _scared _her? He certainly hadn't meant for her to see him like that. It probably _had_ been scary. Hinata had seen him angry before though, right? But then he realized, it wouldn't have had an effect on her at all... before they'd actually gotten to know one another. And he still had the sharingan activated.

With a small sigh Sasuke let it go, and felt the last little portion of his anger melt away with it. Damn. Somehow he just couldn't believe that he'd allowed a _girl_ to have such as influence over him. It was kind of degrading, as far as his pride went.

"Sasu...ke..." she cried. "Y-you're a good person. That's why... for my sake... I can't allow you to...."

Everything was silent. Sasuke glanced up, over and behind her, though there was really no need. The two men were completely out of sight now, and he knew, even as bitter anger bit his insides, that he was going to let them go now. It was what Hinata wanted, and there was no room for him to pretend to act irrationally now that they were out of his line of vision.

Hinata thought... that he was good? Was he really? Somehow, Sasuke himself had never thought so.

Hinata still had her face covered, and he hadn't really realized until then how close she was standing. Sasuke reached out a hand, and placed it on top of her head. A little surprised, she finally looked up, her pale eyes tear-filled and blinking inquisitively. Sasuke sighed shortly, and put his arms around her, pulling her close in the small space that had been left between them. She gasped lightly, but Sasuke bowed his head and stared darkly at the ground. He could not stand her eyes for the moment. He felt like they saw too much.

"You can't allow...?" he quoted quietly. "As if you could stop me." Truthfully, his words meant nothing. Sasuke wasn't really used to making light of serious situations like that. Somehow, he wanted to put his thoughts into words for her. But it was not something easily done.

It was a moment more before Hinata answered, and it seemed like she was trying hard to stop crying. "Maybe not," she whispered, and cleared her throat. Then she took a small, shuddering breath, as if gathering her strength. "...but I can try."

"You try too hard," Sasuke mumbled. Really, he wasn't sure of what he was saying. There were other, more important words he needed out. "I'm not... good," he said, laughing lightly at the very thought. "I'm not a good person, Hinata."

Actually... now that he thought about it, there was a large part of Sasuke that had always blamed himself. He hadn't ever really realized it, but he'd constantly been beating himself up over the years, for the things his brother had done. And rather than acknowledging any of that, he'd instead shifted the blame to other people - anyone he could.

Hinata had never done anything like that. She'd lived a hard life, too. It _must _be difficult to be rejected by your family like that... almost as bad as losing them completely, as Sasuke had. Hinata had never blamed anyone though, not even the family members themselves. If there... had been an Itachi in _her_ family, she would not have held it against him - or at least, not in the way that Sasuke had. Hinata wasn't the type to blame others, even for the things that were obviously _their_ fault and not her own. She had tried, with the men that had raped her. For once in her life, she _had_ gotten angry, and she'd become stronger -- but in the end her gentler nature won over of course. Hinata was not one for revenge, and Sasuke should have seen that earlier. He had allowed himself to be mislead.

All of it - _that _was what made Hinata good. Not him.

"Sorry," he muttered. "I just wanted to protect you... I guess." He blushed. (Dear god, a blushing Uchiha? Was the world coming to an end?)

"I don't need protecting," she insisted. Hinata pushed away from him, and he let her go. But Sasuke still couldn't bring himself to look her in the eyes. He prayed that all the red had gone from his face.

Hinata was wiping her tears. "That's why... you helped me get stronger. I can protect myself, if I need to. So why would you go out of your way to do it _for_ me...?"

Sasuke didn't have an exact answer for that. Sure, he _wanted_ to tell her. It should have been so easy. But the damn words were stuck in his throat. How could one just _tell _someone something like that? People did it all the time, he knew, and Sasuke had always scoffed at them. It was stupid, wasn't it? It was so... cliché.

He grimaced a little, and leaned close so that he could quickly press his lips to hers. If something like _that _wasn't enough of an explanation....

Hinata jumped back - a little too late, because Sasuke had already backed off anyway - and made a small sound like a mouse squeaking. Then her entire face lit up with a bright red brush, and Sasuke couldn't hold down the tiny smile. If he were not still feeling so broody and melancholy, he probably would have laughed. She was funny. And cute.

Jeez. What the hell was Sasuke going to do with himself? As strong as he'd built himself up over the years, he was helpless when it came to a simple girl like Hinata. It made him feel frustrated and weirdly relieved at the same time. And he thought, how in the hell had he managed to dig himself into a hole like _this_?

* * *

_**A/N: **__ooh, was it overly dramatic? Is their relationship progressing too fast, you think? I __was__ going to walk into a lot slower than that... the whole "Hinata catching Sasuke in the act" scene wasn't actually supposed to be for a few more chapters. *fret...fret...*_


End file.
